The lingering dispute between the Syndicate Coordination Committee and the cabinet over the new wages scale is expected to continue as the government is exerting efforts to allocate the sources of funding and maintain the country's financial balance, local newspapers reported on Thursday.

The cabinet agreed during a session held on Wednesday to tackle the matter in an “exceptional” session next week at the Baabda Palace to end the bickering over the issue and refer it to the parliament.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is set to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo this week to represent Lebanon at the Francophonie summit before heading to France on an official visit in November, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Thursday.

Miqati will head the Lebanese official delegation to the international grouping of French-speaking nations which opens its 14th summit on Friday.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday reiterated that "any weapons used domestically must be removed," stressing that he will not accept that his presidential term be extended.

“Any weapons used domestically must be removed and this issue has nothing to do with the defense strategy and it is a separate item on the national dialogue's agenda,” Suleiman said in an interview on NBN television.

The cabinet on Wednesday approved a long-awaited batch of administrative appointments, naming Judge Jean Daoud Fahd as head of the Higher Judicial Council, Judge Hatem Madi as state prosecutor and Judge Marwan Abboud as head of the High Disciplinary Committee.

It also appointed Evette Antoun as HDC member, Ali Serhal as government commissioner to the Audit Bureau, Fawzi Khamis as general prosecutor for the Audit Bureau, Ali al-Ahmar as Inspector-General of Education, and Faten Jomaa as inspector-general in the Central Inspection Board.

Hizbullah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will have a televised appearance on Thursday to discuss current issues on the Lebanese and regional scenes, including rumors of a Lebanese drone crossing into Israeli airspace.

Al-Manar TV reported on Wednesday that Nasrallah will speak at 8:30 p.m. to tackle the latest developments regarding his party's alleged involvement in Syria's events.

Speaker Nabih Berri considered on Wednesday that some parties in the country are deliberately wasting time to avoid the adoption of a new electoral law.

Berri's comments were transmitted by MPs who visited him during his weekly meeting with lawmakers. The speaker also announced that the unit to start discussing proposed drafts will be formed during Thursday's joint parliamentary committees' meeting.

Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora urged religious and political figures to take an initiative and stop Hizbullah from sliding into the armed conflict fanning out in Syria, the state-run National News Agency said Wednesday.

Saniora held separate talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Vice President of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan, former Speaker Hussein Husseini and other figures where discussions touched on the latest developments in Lebanon.

The army intelligence branch detained the last member of a gang accused of being involved in a spree of armed bank robberies in Beirut and Mont Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

According to a communique issued by the army Hussein Hijazi was detained in his hideout in the South.

The Army Command on Wednesday said it rejects any insults against the military institution “under the excuse of the rights of migrant workers,” after Human Rights Watch said troops acted “like a gang” during a raid on a Beirut residence inhabited by migrant workers.

HRW said Wednesday that Lebanon should probe and punish army and intelligence officials behind alleged beatings of Egyptian, Sudanese and Syrian migrant workers during the raid.

The March 14 General Secretariat hoped on Wednesday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would handle the 2005 assassination of MP Gebran Tueni in hope that it would reach the truth behind his murder.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Such a case and others like it should not be treated nonchalantly like another WikiLeaks report.”