The Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah have been keen to rule out any rift amid media reports highlighting sharp differences between the close allies over several issues including the extension of Army Chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji's tenure.

Sources close to Hizbullah told As Safir newspaper published on Wednesday that the ties with FPM chief MP Michel Aoun are “normal.”

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam froze his attempts to form the new government, which he launched after the extension of parliament's mandate end of May, his sources said Wednesday.

The freeze came against the backdrop of a dispute between Speaker Nabih Berri and caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, who has refused to attend a parliamentary session amid a resigned cabinet.

Speaker Nabih Berri has denied that he was seeking to infringe on the powers of the executive authority by calling for a parliamentary session amid a resigned cabinet.

In remarks to several local dailies published Wednesday, Berri said: “I regret such accusations.”

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah considered that the recent security incidents across Lebanon aim at curbing the movement of the resistance and plunging it in the local political disputes.

Nasrallah stressed, according to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, that the extremist phenomenon that Lebanon has been witnessing lately are backed and funded by known Arab countries.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc stated on Tuesday that Hizbullah is the “only party to be held responsible for what Lebanon is going through” because of its involvement in the Syrian conflict.

"Hizbullah, its weapons and its militia's involvement in the Syrian war are responsible for what Lebanon is going through,” the lawmakers said in a released statement after their weekly meeting at the Center House.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat slammed on Tuesday the international community's ongoing failure to properly address the Syrian crisis, noting its disregard of the developments in the city of Homs, which he predicted would be critical in determining the fate of the crisis.

He added: “The destruction of real-estate records in city and their replacement with others of different sects is an attempt to alter the political and sectarian identity of the regions stretching from Damascus to the Syrian coast.”

The Israeli army on Tuesday kidnapped two shepherds from a region near the southern town of Shebaa, the state-run National News Agency reported.

"Youssef Hussein Rhayyel and Youssef Mohammed Zahra were abducted into the occupied Shebaa Farms,” the NNA noted.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday ruled out an imminent formation of a new cabinet as he slammed the performance of the parliament.

“Nothing indicates that the cabinet will be formed soon and everyone is saying it may be formed in September or when the (parliament's) 17-month extension period ends,” Aoun told reporters after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh.

Acting Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Daryl Mundis appointed Mr. Stephane Bourgon, Ad.E., of Canada as amicus curiae to investigate the three events that are the subject of allegations of contempt, announced the tribunal in a statement on Tuesday.

“The appointment follows the decision of the Contempt Judge David Baragwanath on April 29, 2013 to initiate proceedings in three incidents which could potentially be considered interference with the administration of justice through publication of alleged witness identities,” it added.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi voiced on Tuesday his “complete support” to the army in its efforts to preserve Lebanon's unity and peace.

He called on the Lebanese people “regardless of their political or sectarian affiliations to support this national institution.”