As Lebanon's economy tanks, foreign envoys are resorting to increasingly undiplomatic language to make clear their exasperation with politicians who demand bailout cash without delivering basic reforms in return.

EU foreign ministers have agreed to move ahead towards sanctions against Lebanon's ruling elite over the political crisis wracking the country, the bloc's foreign policy chief said.

The lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast, Tarek al-Bitar, has informed Parliament Bureau his rejection to provide it with any additional documents related to the MPs Nouhad al-Mashnouq, Ghazi Zoaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil, al-Jadeed TV said on Monday.

“In a memo sent to Parliament Bureau, Bitar considered that he is not obliged to submit any additional documents regarding the three MPs, seeing as any additional info that he might give would compromise the confidentiality of the investigation,” al-Jadeed quoted judicial sources as saying.

The Banque du Liban – Lebanon’s central bank -- assured Monday that “Lebanon’s gold is safe,” in response to MP Jamil al-Sayyed’s remarks that BDL Governor Riad Salameh “had partially or totally disposed of the gold owned by the Central Bank.”

The Central Bank said that Lebanon’s gold reserves “have not been touched,” and will not be touched nor used “as a mortgage” against the country’s interests “as some people wish.”

Head of the Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil tweeted on Monday about the Beirut blast “tragedy,” saying that “the worst thing is injustice, and it is unjust for a crime to go unpunished.”

He called for immunity lifting so that “justice takes its course, the perpetrator gets punished and the innocent gets acquitted.”

Former Nissan and Renault boss Carlos Ghosn denied any responsibility in Renault's alleged cheating on emission tests for diesel vehicles during more than six hours of questioning in Beirut in May, according to documents seen by AFP.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari on Monday held talks at the embassy in Beirut with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea and French Ambassador to Lebanon Anne Grillo, the Saudi embassy said.

A statement issued by the embassy said the meeting tackled “the political developments in the Lebanese and regional arenas and issues of common interest.”

Head of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, said Monday in a radio interview that “the Israeli bravados and statements about an upcoming third war on Lebanon do not reflect an Israeli will, neither from the government nor from the public.”

He added that these bellicose statements rather indicate “a hostile intention from the countries supporting the Israeli enemy.”

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday stressed that “there will be no immunity for any wrongdoer” in the port blast case, days after lawmakers held an indecisive meeting over Judge Tarek al-Bitar’s request for lifting the parliamentary immunity of three MPs.

“We stress to the families of the martyrs, wounded and those affected that the crime of the Beirut port blast was a national crime that deeply affected the Lebanese, and we will not accept, under any circumstances, less than knowing the entire truth with all its details and penalizing those who caused it regardless of their positions,” Berri said in a written statement marking the 2006 war with Israel.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri will likely visit President Michel Aoun on Monday to hand him a new draft cabinet line-up, media reports said.

The draft will be a last attempt prior to resignation unless Aoun “surprises the PM-designate by accepting it or by considering that it is valid for discussion,” al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.