BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman postponed Wednesday National Dialogue to early 2013 as MP Walid Jumblatt’s ministers carried on with efforts to bridge the gap between Lebanon’s rival political camps. Sources at Baabda Palace said the next National Dialogue session, the last round of which was held in September, was scheduled for Jan. 7 of next year. This week’s session had been scheduled for Thursday.

The president’s decision comes after the Future Movement held to its position of boycotting the all-party talks which Sleiman had hoped could serve as a medium to resolve the current government crisis. Lebanon plunged into a political crisis in October following the assassination Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who headed the police’s Information Branch. [Link]