The breakthrough followed a flurry of contacts from France which has led efforts to get Lebanon’s fractious leaders to agree a cabinet and begin reforms since last year’s catastrophic Beirut port explosion, senior Lebanese political sources said. The crisis, which has forced three quarters of the population into poverty, is the biggest threat to Lebanon’s stability since the 1975-90 civil war. Political sources said there had been intensive contacts through the night to try to reach an agreement. NO BLOCKING THIRDMikati, a politician-businessman who was designated prime minister in July, has previously said he would seek to re-start negotiations with the IMF once his government was formed. Mikati was designated after Saad al-Hariri, a former prime minister, abandoned his efforts.
