UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon Robert Watkins stressed on Thursday on the importance of demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border, voicing the U.N.’s commitment to assisting the Lebanese authorities in addressing the humanitarian needs of the Syrian refugees.

“We would welcome a decision that would permit the High Relief Commission to operate throughout Lebanon to ensure a more efficient and coordinated response to the needs of the Lebanese and displaced population,” Watkins said during a visit to the eastern border town of Arsal in the Bekaa.

Gunmen robbed a bank in al-Damour region on Thursday morning, succeeding in escaping with an undisclosed sum of money, reported the National News Agency.

The four masked gunmen, riding a grey B.M.W. X5 with tinted windows, broke into Federal Bank of Lebanon in al-Damour and robbed it through the force of arms.

A Special Tribunal for Lebanon Trial Chamber hearing opened for the second day on Thursday as the legal representative of victims in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination called for redress and justice.

The victims “seek the truth, expiation, redress and justice and they have applied to this tribunal to give effect to the rights which nobody seriously challenges that they have,” said Peter Haynes.

Cabinet approved on Thursday a draft law allowing the government to obtain treasury loans pending the approval of the 2012 state budget, reported MTV.

Cabinet approved the extra-budgetary spending bill worth $6.8 billion, referring it to parliament in the form of an urgent bill, said LBC television.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said on Thursday that Lebanese interpreter Helen Assaf, who was detained in Libya along with members of the International Criminal Court, might be released soon.

“The Libyan authorities gave us a glimpse of hope that Assaf will be released soon,” Mansour told As Safir newspaper.

President Michel Suleiman said on Thursday that the Lebanese leaders will tackle the controversial defense strategy, Hizbullah’s arsenal, weapons spread across the country in addition to armed Palestinian bases outside the refugee camps at the second round of the all-party talks.

“We had to set the framework of our agenda at the first session,” Suleiman told As Safir newspaper.

The March 14 opposition coalition intends to stir the issue of Syrian violations of Lebanese sovereignty during the next national dialogue session later this month, high-ranking sources said Thursday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that the opposition representatives at the all-party talks will bring up the issue on June 25 when top Lebanese leaders convene for the second time since the dialogue resumed under President Michel Suleiman last Monday.

The Foreign Ministry will establish a hotline for the Lebanese expats across the world to enable them to contact the Lebanese authorities in case of emergencies, As Safir newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the daily, the expatriates will be able to contact the Lebanese authorities through calling this hotline if they were subjected to any kind of accidents and they needed the support of the state.

The Lebanese Forces announced on Wednesday the nomination of Dr. Fadi Abdallah Karam, the former chairman of Tripoli’s dentists’ syndicate, to run in the parliamentary by-election in Koura after the death of MP Farid Habib.

LF leader Samir Geagea held a press conference in Maarab to announce the “unanimous nomination of comrade Dr. Fadi Abdallah Karam to contest the by-election for the vacant seat of Koura after the death of our comrade Farid Habib.”

The crisis in Syria and its impact on Lebanon have put in doubt Pope Benedict XVI's planned visit to Lebanon in September, reports said Wednesday.

The trip scheduled for September 14 to 16 remains confirmed on the program published regularly on the pope's planned visits.