BEIRUT (Reuters) – A large majority of members of Lebanon's parliament, including Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah lawmakers, will nominate Saad al-Hariri for the post of prime minister, paving the way for his appointment later this week, political sources said on Friday.

President Michel Suleiman was to hold consultations with parliamentarians later on Friday and on Saturday to decide on the next prime minister. On Saturday he will designate the candidate with most support.
Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system reserves the premiership to a Sunni Muslim.
The sources said Hariri, a Sunni, would be nominated by his coalition's 71 MPs in the 128-seat assembly as well as the 25 parliamentarians of the Islamic resistance movement Hezbollah and its Shi'ite Amal ally.
Hariri, who led the March 14 coalition to victory over March 8 coalition in this month's election, met Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah overnight.
A joint statement by both men said the leaders had held talks and discussed the outcome of the election and the possible shape of the new government.
“They also agreed on continuing discussions in the current positive calm atmosphere and stressed the logic of dialogue, cooperation and openness,” it said.
Hezbollah had called for the formation of a national unity government with veto power for the minority alliance after the parliamentary election, though the group has not repeated the demand since the vote.
While his majority coalition could nominate him and effectively appoint him to the post, Hariri had been keen on getting the backing of his powerful rivals to ensure a smooth launch of his administration.
He offered to open a new page immediately after the election and called for the shelving of the contentious issue of disarming Hezbollah. The Lebanese Islamic resistance movement has battled the Zionist forces since the early 1980s.
It fought a 34-day battle against Israel in 2006 in which 1,200 people died.
The meeting between Hariri and Nasrallah is also set to defuse Sunni-Shi'ite tensions that were fostered by external forces.
A Qatari-sponsored deal in May 2008 ended the crisis but sectarian tensions rose again in the run-up to the election.
Hariri, 39, was thrown into politics in 2005 by the assassination of his father Rafik Hariri, becoming the strongest Sunni leader in Lebanon.
Photo:
A file photo shows Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah (left) and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri meeting in 2008. Hariri has held talks with Nasrallah, on the makeup of a new government. (AFP/HO/File)