Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat urged on Monday Syria’s Druze population to abandon the ruling regime, warning them against “getting their hands covered with the blood of the Syrian people.”

He told France 24 television: “I caution the Druze against getting embroiled in any sectarian strife with the Sunnis because that will spell their end.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri noted on Monday that the latest “massacre committed by the Syrian regime” in Homs coincided with the Israeli assault on Gaza over the weekend.

He said in a statement: “The latest massacre committed by the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad against innocent people not only condemns the regime, but the international community for its lack of humanity.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held a meeting on Monday with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani during a pastoral visit to the Gulf State.

The patriarch also held a meeting with Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani at the Emiri Diwan, the National News Agency reported.

An arrest warrant has been issued on Monday against a Lebanese citizen on charges of firing at members of the Syrian border guard, reported the National News Agency.

Military court judge Imad al-Zein issued the warrant against the detainee for the incident that took place at al-Qaa on August 19, 2011 and left one person dead.

Security forces arrested two women after being caught red-handed while robbing a house in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA said that 38-year-old M.A. and H.A., 32, were robbing the apartment in the Haret Hreik neighborhood when an Internal Security Forces unit caught them following a month of investigation.

Lebanon decided not to join a meeting set to discuss support for the Syrian regime, which is expected to be held in the upcoming few days in Tehran, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Monday.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry invited Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria to join the conference on March 18. However, Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who received the invitation from his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi, decided not to participate after discussions with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

The 7th anniversary of the Cedar Revolution will include speeches by civil society activists and by youth from the March 14 coalition unlike previous years that include statements by politicians only, al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Monday.

The March 14-led opposition will launch a political document during its anniversary in BIEL on Wednesday. The text has been drafted and distributed to all the opposition leaderships for their final comments.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Neeraj Singh stated on Monday that the situation in southern Lebanon is calm and stable, reported the National News Agency.

He denied that any unusual activity was taking place in the South, particularly at Kfarkila.

Premier Najib Miqati and Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan will on Monday put the final touches on a draft-law aimed at resolving the controversy on the extra-budgetary spending made in 2006-2010, the lawmaker said.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5), Kanaan said there is consensus on the approval of the draft-law formulated to resolve the $11 billion spending made by the governments of ex-PMs Fouad Saniora and Saad Hariri between 2006 and 2009 and the $5 billion spent by the national unity cabinet of Hariri in 2010.

The appointments of top civil servants in state posts remained a point of contention between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

The daily noted that despite the “optimistic” reports on the issue, the dispute hasn’t been resolved yet.