Special report: Israel's General Election

    JERUSALEM, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his coalition cabinet is to be sworn in on Thursday, four months after Ariel Sharon's stroke and five weeks after the elections.

    Olmert's coalition grouping four parties - Kadima, Labor, Shasand the Gil Pensioners Party - controls 67 out of the Knesset (parliament)'s 120 seats.

    The swearing-in will complete his coalition-building on the last of the 28 days allocated to him by law, without having to resort to an extension.

    The Knesset session will begin with a speech by Olmert, who will introduce his 25 ministers and the government's agenda. After a factional debate, the Knesset will cast a vote of confidence in the new government at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT). Olmert will immediately focus on the long overdue 2006 state budget that was postponed by the elections.

    Olmert, whose Kadima party won 29 seats in the March 28 general elections, was formally tasked with forming a new coalition government by Israeli President Moshe Katsav on April 6. He shall put together a coalition of at least 61 Knesset members by Thursday, according to Israeli law. If needed, a two-week extension can be granted.

    Vowing to set the Israeli final borders by 2010, the 60-year-old Olmert has announced that he intends to quit isolated settlements in the West Bank while keeping the major ones in the absence of peace talks with the Palestinian side. Enditem