Deputy Speaker Farid Makari proposed the formation of a subcommittee to study whether to adopt the winner-takes-all or proportional representation systems and the size of the electoral districts in the new parliamentary electoral law and to carry out consultations with the rival political parties over the matter..

Speaker Nabih Berri agreed to Makari's suggestion as long as the joint parliamentary committees continue discussing the remaining articles in the draft law referred by the cabinet.

Civil defense teams succeeded on Wednesday in extinguishing a fire that had been raging for five days in the outskirts of the northern town of al-Qoubaiyat and nearby areas in Akkar.

The army and civil defense teams had struggled to combat the blaze due to the difficulty to reach the affected areas and the lack of roads that would allow firetrucks to reach the region, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati revealed on Wednesday that power-generating vessels are likely to reach Lebanon at the end of 2012 after they were expected to arrive in October.

Miqati said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that his cabinet is currently discussing ways to pay the Turkish company Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim the advance payment of its fees.

A series of leaked Syrian documents revealed on Tuesday Syrian intelligence's role in the death of Lebanese Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed in May, reported al-Arabiya on Tuesday.

It said that the cleric and his companion were killed at Syria's behest.

The cabinet on Wednesday postponed the discussion of a report prepared by a Lebanese delegation that visited France to learn about the mechanism used there to intercept phone calls, while tasking a panel with studying the creation of an independent national commission for the forcibly disappeared persons.

The panel is headed by Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and comprises State Minister Ali Qansou, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour and Labor Minister Salim Jreissati, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq told reporters after the cabinet session.

A Hizbullah commander and several fighters have been killed inside Syria, a Lebanese security official told the Associated Press on Tuesday, a development that could stoke already soaring tensions over an alleged role for the Lebanese group in the civil war next door.

Hizbullah has stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad since the uprising began 18 months ago, even after the group supported revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain. The group says it is backing the Syrian regime because of its support for the anti-Israel resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine and because it is willing to implement political reforms.

A journalist working for several major international media publications was tortured for almost a month by Lebanese security forces, a media rights watchdog said on Tuesday.

Rami Aysha was arrested on August 30 and released on bail on September 27, after being held on unclear charges centered on alleged weapons-buying, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Tuesday called for a general strike and demonstrations to be staged on October 10 over what it called “the government's procrastination” and “the onslaught of the Economic Committees,” stressing that it will not stand idly by as the government delays referring the new wage scale to parliament.

On September 6, the cabinet approved the new wage scale with a hike in taxes on real estate and banking transactions, without reaching a final agreement on funding sources.

The Phalange Party on Tuesday called on the Christian parties to agree on an electoral law for the 2013 parliamentary polls that would guarantee “proper Christian representation.”

In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party urged “the Christian leaders and lawmakers in particular to agree on what guarantees proper Christian representation."

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc pushed on Tuesday for the adoption of an electoral law based on small districts, as it “takes into consideration the fears of a great segment of the Lebanese society that is calling for a just representation”.

In a statement delivered by MP Kazem al-Kheir after the bloc's weekly meeting, al-Mustaqbal MPs described the draft law proposed by the government as one-dimensional, driven by a plan to serve Hizbullah's interests and maintain the party's domination over the legal authority in Lebanon.