Speaker Nabih Berri hinted on Wednesday that he would not end the mission of a parliamentary subcommittee tasked with finding common ground on an electoral draft-law, saying its members could continue to meet even if the file was referred to the joint committees.

In remarks to several newspapers, Berri said: “The session held yesterday (Tuesday) was better than its precedents.”

Al-Mustaqbal bloc confirmed on Tuesday its willingness to discuss any draft electoral laws that does not contradict with co-existence and with the constitutional values, restating its rejection of the Orthodox proposal.

"We cannot deal with some communities' concerns by adopting a law that would trigger new worries,” the bloc said in a released statement after its weekly meeting at the Center House.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday demanded the revocation of firearms licenses granted to citizens, in the wake of the latest attack on the convoy of Sports and Youth Minister Faisal Karami in Tripoli.

“During the cabinet session held at the Grand Serail, Miqati asked Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn to prepare a plan for revoking firearms licenses and the licenses of vehicles with tinted windows,” MTV reported.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun renewed on Tuesday his support for the Orthodox Gathering parliamentary electoral law.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “I will reject any electoral draft law besides the Orthodox proposal that does not offer fair representation among the sects.”

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hoped on Tuesday that President Michel Suleiman would help bolster ties among the Lebanese people and develop the state.

He said: “Russia will help the Lebanese people develop their state and it in turn will develop its ties with Lebanon.”

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon condemned the recent media reports claiming to reveal the identities of individuals who may be called to testify before the STL as witnesses, it announced in a statement on Tuesday.

“The Tribunal denounces in the strongest possible terms any attempts at witness intimidation,” it added.

Four buses carrying Russian citizens escaping the Syrian civil war crossed the Masnaa border post on Tuesday to travel to Moscow via Beirut airport.

A Russian embassy official traveling with the group said about 80 people, mostly women and children, are on the buses.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati discussed with Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz ways to steer Lebanon clear of the developments in the region, the PM's press office said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said the meeting was held on Monday night in the presence of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and the Lebanese delegation to Riyadh that included FM Adnan Mansour, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi, Economy Minister Nicolas Nahas and Industry Minister Vrej Sabounjian.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel shied away from confirming a report that Syrian rebels would set free nine Lebanese pilgrims held since May in return for the release of 1,000 Syrian opposition detainees.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim took with him to Qatar a file detailing the negotiations carried out by the Lebanese authorities since 11 men were kidnapped on May 22 on their way back from a pilgrimage to Iran.

Monday's failed prison break from Roumieh saved the prison from a “historic scandal,” as more than 60 Fatah al-Islam inmates planned to murder security guards and the escape before their fateful trials are due in February, the As Safir daily said.

An informant at the prison leaked news at dawn on Monday to the security guards on the prison escape plan. He said that the prisoners were able to make a huge hole in the iron door separating their prison ward and the control room which they planned to escape through, the daily added.