Greek talks on interim PM go into second day
Outgoing PM George Papandreou is reported to have told a cabinet meeting, "We will have a positive outcome by the end of the day."
The new interim leader will head a unity government tasked with saving the country from imminent bankruptcy, BBC News reports.
The priority for Greece's new leadership is to ratify a vital EU bailout package.
Debt-ridden Greece is under mounting international pressure to calm global markets and resolve a political crisis that is threatening to spread across the eurozone.
Papandreou's farewell
Negotiations have been taking place between Mr Papandreou and Antonis Samaras, leader of the largest opposition party New Democracy.
Government sources told the BBC on Tuesday: "It seems that a deal is very close."
Mr Papandreou, who has agreed to step down, said farewell to his cabinet colleagues at the meeting, a minister quoted by Reuters said.
He also asked cabinet members to prepare their resignations, the Athens-Macedonian news agency reported.
Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank (ECB), is widely seen as the frontrunner to replace Mr Papandreou.
Other possible candidates named in the Greek media include Nikiforos Diamandouros, Greece's European ombudsman, and Panagiotis Roumeliotis, Greece's representative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
For full version go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15640428
