Ex-Lebanese PM asked to form new govt

Presidential press secretary Rafiq Shlala said in a statement that "Mr Lahoud had received Karameh and charged him with forming a new government."

Karameh, 70, told AFP he would begin discussions on that task on Friday.

A prominent Sunni Muslim figure in the northern city of Tripoli, Karameh was premier from December 1990 until May 1992, when he was succeeded by first-timer Hariri after being forced out by nationwide protests over the economy.

Currently a member of parliament, he is a conservative politician with strong ties to Syria and is an archfoe of Hariri.

Under the complex arrangements of Lebanon's constitution, the prime minister is always selected from the Sunni community, while the president is always a Maronite Christian and the parliamentary speaker a Shia Muslim.