Lebanon's newly-appointed caretaker cabinet headed by Prime Minister Nagid Mikati held its first official meeting Wednesday to draft policies that will steer the country towards parliamentary elections next month. Mikati and his 14-member government posed for official photographs with President Emile Lahoud before beginning talks. The new premier was nominated after weeks of political turmoil following the February 14 killing of former prime miniset Rafik Hariri. The country has been without a government since Mikati's predecessor Omar Karameh resigned at the end of February in the face of the massive opposition protests. Mikati, a telecommunication tycoon, has pledged to hold elections by a May 30 deadline and to sack top security officials. The cabinet, which mainly consists of independent technical experts, is to draft the government's election plan which will then be presented to parliament for approval. --SP 2236 Local Time 1936 GMT
