Central Bank governor Riyad Salameh stressed on Thursday that a lawsuit filed in a New York federal court last week against some Lebanese financial entities is an individual case that doesn’t target Lebanon’s banking sector.

“The civil lawsuit on the Lebanese-Canadian Bank and several other exchange companies is an individual case and is being solved through the judiciary, which confirms that the Lebanese banking sector as a whole hasn’t been targeted,” Salameh told Premier Najib Miqati during a meeting they held at the Grand Serail.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher stated on Thursday that the international community is obligated to support Lebanon, especially its stability.

He voiced his optimism in Lebanon, saying that the country will witness stability.

President Michel Suleiman toured southern Lebanon on Thursday to inspect army troops and UNIFIL units stationed south of the Litani River.

Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn and Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji accompanied Suleiman.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat and Tawhid movement chief Wiam Wahhab stressed on Thursday the importance of preventing any security incident in the Mountains.

A statement issued by the Tawhid party said Wahhab visited Jumblat at his residence in Clemenceau and the two Druze leaders agreed to “follow-up the situation in the Mountains, particularly in sensitive areas.”

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas said that he will refer the wage hike plan approved by the cabinet to the Shura Council on Thursday to get its response swiftly.

“If the Shura Council approved the decision it will be sent quickly to the official gazette so that it becomes as of December,” Nahhas told al-Liwaa newspaper on Thursday.

Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ wage hike proposal faced another controversy on Thursday after the Economic Committees refused to comment on the cabinet’s new decision, while the General Labor Confederation hinted it might suspend its planned strike.

Head of GLC Ghasan Ghosn told al-Liwaa newspaper on Thursday that the Confederation might suspend its strike on December 27 that was aimed at protesting low wages.

Hizbullah denied on Thursday U.S. allegations of involvement in a $300 million laundering scheme and drugs trafficking, saying they are aimed at targeting the resistance and tarnishing its image.

“Hizbullah categorically denies the false accusations of its involvement directly or indirectly in money laundering or drug trafficking or banking transactions as claimed by the New York Times,” the party said in a statement.

The Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah and Amal dealt a blow to Premier Najib Miqati on Wednesday after they voted in favor of a wage boost decree proposed by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas hours after the Economic Committees and the General Labor Confederation agreed with minor changes on a previous proposal made by the PM.

Fifteen ministers voted in favor of Nahhas’ wage hike decree while 11 voted against it. Minister Wael Abou Faour abstained from voting while Ministers Salim Karam, Faisal Karami and Nazem al-Khoury did not attend the session that was held at Baabda palace.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said that the approval of the majority of cabinet members on Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ wage proposal was “a democratic expression,” but stressed it was a “political” stance aimed at showing support to a “political ally.”

“No one won and no one lost. I respect democracy and we’ll see how this decision will be applied,” Miqati told An Nahar daily on Thursday.

The Permanent Military Court on Wednesday sentenced Charbel Qazzi, the head of the maintenance department at the state-owned mobile phone firm Alfa, to seven years hard labor on charges of collaborating with Israel, state-run National News Agency reported.

Qazzi was arrested in June 2010 and charged with passing on information to Israeli spies that aided the Jewish state in its 2006 war against Hizbullah.