Workers at the State Employees' Cooperative escalated their nationwide strike on Monday as they kicked off a sit-in near the institution’s headquarter in Karantina area.

The employees flocked from across Lebanon to Karantina announcing that they stopped receiving medical treatment applications.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed that the security agencies will kick off on Wednesday a 1 month, 24 hours a day security plan.

He told reporters after chairing a meeting of the Central Security Council on Monday that the Internal Security Forces will set up check points starting from Beirut and reaching other areas across Lebanon.

March 14 opposition sources expected the country’s top leaders to “buy time” during a national dialogue session on Monday as the coalition seeks to integrate Hizbullah’s arms into the Lebanese army.

The sources told An Nahar daily that the leaders who met at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman are not expected to achieve tangible results.

The national dialogue was resumed on Monday with the gatherers voicing their rejection of the use of arms on the internal scene in Lebanon.

They said in a statement: “Political cover must be lifted off the use of weapons in Lebanon.”

Several people were wounded on Sunday in an armed clash in the northern town of Minieh between supporters of MP Kazem al-Kheir and partisans of Kamal al-Kheir, head of the National Gathering for Social Action, state-run National News Agency reported.

The wounded were transferred to nearby hospitals as the army launched raids to arrest the shooters, NNA said.

Deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said Sunday that “certain groups are weakening Lebanon’s power in confronting the Israeli enemy by provoking civil strife and protecting gunmen fighting in Syria,” stressing that the government will not resign and should “shoulder its responsibilities.”

During a commemorative celebration in the southern town of Selaa, Qaouq said that March 14 forces “insist on provoking civil strife, while we are determined to defuse the tension and this is the reason behind our participation in national dialogue.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati advised Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu to engage in dialogue with Syria to resolve the two countries’ lingering differences, the PM’s press office announced on Sunday.

Miqati made the remark after receiving a phone call from Davutoglu on Saturday night, it said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged Lebanese officials on Sunday to help the people preserve their land by resolving the problems that lead to property sales and emigration.

In his sermon, al-Rahi said the Lebanese constitution’s preamble states that “Lebanese territory is one for all Lebanese.”

The northern district of Koura is likely to witness a tough electoral battle next month to fill the Greek Orthodox seat vacated by the death of Lebanese Forces MP Farid Habib in May.

The by-elections that are set to be held on July 15 will determine the orientation of the Koura residents in the parliamentary polls of 2013, deputy Speaker Farid Makari told An Nahar daily published Sunday.

The cabinet is set to tackle the electricity crisis in Lebanon next Wednesday after several weeks of frequent power cuts across the country caused road closures by angry residents.

An Nahar newspaper reported Sunday that the issue of electricity shortage is on the 74-item agenda of the cabinet that will most likely witness a heated session over Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s scheduled briefing of the findings of a technical committee tasked with studying the leasing of power-generating vessels.