Political upheaval in Syria, hit by months of opposition protests, is weighing heavily on neighboring Lebanon where it risks sparking inter-religious clashes, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams warned Thursday.

"There is a great worry in Lebanon about this," said Williams, who raised the potential for "confessional clashes in Lebanon."

Loyalty to Resistance bloc MP Hassan Fadlallah on Thursday said that Hizbullah was willing to engage in a national dialogue “on the basis of building a defense strategy for Lebanon, but not on the basis of dialogue over the Resistance and its weapons.”

“Because we don’t believe there’s a dialogue topic called weapons or the Resistance,” Fadlallah added, stressing Hizbullah’s keenness on “rapprochement, cooperation and understanding” among the Lebanese.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah met Thursday with Mohammad Reza Bahonar, Deputy Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran (parliament), who was accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, Hizbullah’s press office said.

The meeting, which was also attended by Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi, tackled the latest developments in Lebanon and the region and the means of possible cooperation between Lebanon and Iran, the press office added.

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Elie Kairouz on Thursday addressed a parliamentary question to the government via the parliament speaker on the circumstances of the abduction and release of the seven Estonians.

In a statement issued by his press office, Kairouz addressed a question to “Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi on the circumstances of the abduction, detention and release of the seven Estonian hostages … and the role of the Lebanese government and its judicial and military authorities in that operation.”

The Sharia committee of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah Foundation announced Thursday that Islam's holy fasting month of Ramadan will begin on Monday, August 1.

“According to accurate scientific and astronomical calculations, the astronomical birth of the crescent of the holy month of Ramadan for the year 1432 A.H. will happen on Saturday, July 30 at 18:40 GMT (21:40 Beirut daylight saving time),” the foundation said in statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday that Lebanon won’t forget the United Nations Interim in Lebanon Force’s sacrifices for Lebanon.

He made his statement during a meeting with U.N. Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) chief Juha Kilpiä and an accompanying delegation.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi criticized on Thursday political disputes in Lebanon, hoping that they won’t obstruct the functioning of state institutions.

He said after meeting with a Phalange Party delegation: “We oppose political quarrels taking place at Lebanon’s expense because the country belongs to all Lebanese.”

President Michel Suleiman urged on Thursday politicians to prevent political disputes from affecting social affairs, “which are at the heart of democracy”, the National News Agency reported.

“There are many projects related to social affairs that are waiting to be approved,” he said during a meeting with General Labor Confederation Chief Ghassan Ghosn and an accompanying delegation.

Lebanese political forces are preparing to hold private and broad meetings to determine their stances on the new electoral law that the cabinet had pledged to finalize.

It vowed in its policy statement to finalize it a year before the parliamentary elections are to be held in 2013.

An agreement signed between the government of French Premier Francois Fillon and that that of former PM Saad Hariri to provide the Lebanese army with missiles has been temporarily suspended, revealed French sources to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Thursday.

They said that the French government suspended it in order to determine a clear position from Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s cabinet, which Paris believes was formed at Syria and Hizbullah’s bidding.