Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Moussawi apologized on Thursday to Speaker Nabih Berri and the lawmakers over the words he used during his verbal clash with Phalange deputy Sami Gemayel the day before.

In a statement issued by Hizbullah’s press office, Moussawi said: “Out of my respect to the party’s values and ethics, I apologize to Speaker Nabih Berri and fellow lawmakers over the offensive word I used in my response yesterday.”

The political rift between Hizbullah and Free Patriotic Movement that surged to the surface lately has increased after Hizbullah ministers approved Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s wage hike proposal, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The conflict (between the two parties) require a meeting between Hizbullah Chief (Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah) and (FPM leader) Michel Aoun,” Hizbullah sources told the daily.

Hizbullah and the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, have reached an agreement to nominate Judge Tannous Meshleb as their candidate for the presidency of the Higher Judicial Council, al-Joumhouria daily reported Thursday.

The appointment of the head of the HJC will be discussed during upcoming cabinet sessions.

Palestinian Armed Struggle chief Mahmoud Issa, who goes by the nom de guerre of al-Lino, accused members of the militant group Jund al-Sham on Thursday of assassinating his bodyguard the day before.

“Maybe there are instructions to continually target the PAS and national security and shove us in internal struggles,” al-Lino told al-Jadid TV.

The rally that the Syndicate Coordination Committee called for kicked off at 11:00 am on Thursday heading from Beshara al-Khoury towards the Grand Serail to refute cabinet’s approval of the wage hike decree.

The rally was escorted by heavy security deployment at Riyad al-Solh square, the parliament and the Grand Serail to prevent any clashes.

The cabinet cancelled the Value Added Tax on red diesel on Thursday as ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on one hand and PM Najib Miqati on the other boasted that they were behind the decision.

The removal of the tax would be effective as of Monday and the parliament is expected to endorse it soon.

High-ranking March 14 sources said Thursday that the language used by Hizbullah MP Nawwaf Moussawi in his dispute with Phalange lawmaker Sami Gemayel was rejected and was a reaction approved by his party.

“What happened during the session was an attempt to terrorize” MPs, but the Hizbullah lawmaker’s efforts failed after Gemayel and several other opposition members snapped back at him, the sources said.

The Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for the Lebanon, Daniel Bellemare, has informed the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon that, for health reasons, he does not intend to seek reappointment for a second term as Prosecutor at the end of February 2012, announced the tribunal in a statement

Bellemare stated: "It has been an honor and a privilege to seek justice for the people of Lebanon.”

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday last week’s attack against French troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, reiterating accusations that Syria is behind such assaults.

It added in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Hizbullah is also completely responsible for the attack because it controls the security of the South and UNIFIL’s area of operations.”

The Amal movement and Hizbullah leaderships have slammed what they called the “evil hands” that have targeted U.N. peacekeepers in the South and launched a rocket from Lebanese territories.

Following a meeting held by their leaderships at the movement’s offices in the city of Tyre, Amal and Hizbullah stressed commitment to the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon that supports the Lebanese army in accordance with Security Council resolution 1701.