Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida set the date for questioning Syrian security chief and another Syrian colonel and the date for hearing informant's in ex-Minister Michel Samaha's case.

The state-run National News Agency reported on Monday that Abu Ghida has set February 4 as the interrogation session to question Syrian Security Chief Maj. Gen. Ali al-Mamlouk and a colonel identified only as Adnan, who are charged along with Samaha with plotting a terror attack in Lebanon.

Ten female soldiers from Malaysia are expected in Lebanon on Tuesday to serve for six months with the Malaysian contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Malaysia's National News Agency reported.

The agency quoted Armed Forces chief Gen. Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, who presided their sending off ceremony, as saying they would replace the first batch of female members of the armed forces who are completing duty on Jan 21.

A wanted individual was killed and another injured during a clash with a Lebanese army unit in the eastern town of Brital, the military command said Friday.

The troops were carrying out a raid in Brital to arrest several suspects wanted by the judiciary when Qassem Ahmed Tleis, his brother Mohammed and a Syrian man opened fire on them with machine guns, a communique said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat criticized Iran on Monday for failing to seek the release of nine Lebanese pilgrims held hostage by rebels in Syria since last May.

He said in his editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa that Tehran could have included the Lebanese abductees in the negotiation process that led to the release of 48 Iranians last week.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati loaded on Monday President Michel Suleiman's stances, saying that the president bases his decisions on the nation's higher interest.

“The president seeks to maintain the unity of the Lebanese and fears over the conditions of the Christians and their future,” Miqati told An Nahar newspaper.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will carry out contacts with Lebanese foes to convince them to adopt the Orthodox Gathering proposal, which was reached by Christian political parties.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Monday, the negotiations will be in coordination with President Michel Suleiman.

Lebanon's top Christian parties from both the majority and opposition camps confirmed on Monday their support for the so-called Orthodox Gathering proposal, a move that is likely to put them at loggerheads with the opposition’s al-Mustaqbal movement on an electoral draft-law.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, who is a Christian leader in the opposition March 14 alliance, said: “We care for achieving the right representation for Christians.”

The Senior Adviser to the Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Arshad Hurmuzlu, stressed on Monday that the case of the kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Syria is a local affair, pointing out that efforts are ongoing to free the men.

“It is wrong to deal with the case on the basis that it's a Lebanese-Turkish affair,” Hurmuzlu told An Nahar newspaper.

The spokesman of al-Meqdad clan's military wing, Maher al-Meqdad, denied on Monday that he knows the reasons behind his arrest in September.

He pointed out in comments published in An Nahar newspaper that the clan had handed over to General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim the Turkish hostage without imposing any conditions.

Speaker Nabih Berri shied away on Monday from revealing what steps he would take if a parliamentary subcommittee failed to agree on common ground on an electoral draft-law.

In remarks to local newspapers, Berri said he will study the minutes of the meetings of the subcommittee which is scheduled to convene on Monday afternoon.