Contacts aimed at forming the new government made a “serious progress” on the differences over the Sunni representation and the share of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun’s Change and Reform bloc, As Safir daily reported Saturday.

An Nahar newspaper also said that intense meetings between Premier-designate Najib Miqati and March 8 officials led to an agreement on the shares of each side but the leaders are staying mum on the issue.

Head of the Palestinian Armed Struggle Col. Mahmoud Issa has warned that some members of the now defunct Fatah al-Islam militant network are trying to regroup to carry out “suspicious operations.”

In remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday, Issa, who goes by the nom de guerre of al-Lino said that “some parties that have an interest in targeting the security of camps and its vicinities stand behind these operations and attempts to revive Fatah al-Islam.”

Syria has offered Lebanon help to locate seven Estonians who were kidnapped in the Bekaa valley late last month, As Safir newspaper reported on Saturday.

“A Syrian official contacted one of the Lebanese officials” to offer assistance in the case of the abducted Estonians, the daily said.

Acting Special Tribunal for Lebanon Registrar Herman von Hebel has reportedly informed top Lebanese officials that the indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case would include the names of suspects but would not refer to any party or political team.

An Nahar newspaper said Saturday that Von Hebel met with the officials away from the media spotlight.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Kamel al-Rifai stated on Friday that the government formation process is underway even though Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is adopting a cautious approach in the matter.

He told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency: “Efforts are being made to overcome the obstacles that were hindering his progress.”

President Michel Suleiman held talks on Friday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir at the Baabda palace.

The president congratulated al-Rahi for his election, commending Sfeir’s tenure as patriarch for 25 years and awarding him the Order of the Cedars.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi stressed on Friday the need for Lebanon to take an official stance and respond to Israeli leaks of military and security plans to attack Lebanon.

It should retaliate through a media, political, and diplomatic campaign that would prevent the Jewish state from “fabricating facts before the international public opinion.”

The Israeli military held a set of war games this week aimed at preparing the army for all-out war with Hizbullah, Syria and Hamas, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The drill did not include soldiers or live-fire exercises, but was held to drill commanders and their decisions in the event of a large-scale war on multiple fronts, it said.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati reportedly met with President Michel Suleiman on Thursday night, the same day he sent his brother Taha and nephew Azmi to Damascus.

An Nahar daily said Friday that the Miqati-Suleiman meeting took place at the president’s residence and not his office. As for the envoys that Miqati sent to Syria, well-informed sources told As Safir newspaper that Taha and Azmi Miqati held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached the region, sparking panic in Lebanon over the possibility of the dangers the radiation poses on human health, according to Israeli reports on Thursday.

Officials from Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research conducted a study in the area to verify whether the radiation had actually reached Lebanon.