Israel's cabinet takes shape

After a month of negotiations, the Israeli Prime Minister-elect, Ariel Sharon, has moved closer to securing a parliamentary majority for his national unity government.

On Friday two small ultra-nationalist parties agreed to join the cabinet, and Mr Sharon's main coalition partner, the Labour party, begun filling its eight posts.

Among the Labour ministers is the first Arab in an Israeli cabinet. He is Salah Tarif, a Druze member of parliament, who will work in the office of non-Jewish affairs. But many in the Labour party have been uneasy about joining a government lead by Mr Sharon, and the BBC Middle East correspondent says the inclusion of the far-right parties could lay the grounds for future political infighting. Mr Sharon hopes to present his government to parliament for approval next week.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service