Al-Fajr Brigades snapped back at al-Jamaa al-Islamiyah MP Imad al-Hout on Monday, saying their resistance will remain no matter who renounces them.

“Our forces will remain and we are proud of our arms and resistance… We are surprised by how some people are renouncing us and our weapons,” al-Fajr brigades said in a statement.

Contacts are ongoing between Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun to resolve the controversial issue of the wage boost, An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

As Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas is waiting for the Shura Council’s verdict on his new proposed wage hike plan, sources told the daily that Miqati, Berri and Aoun were holding contacts aimed at reaching a political consensus over the issue.

The cabinet is set to make diplomatic appointments on Tuesday after Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour abided by conditions set by President Michel Suleiman to name three persons for each post and allow the government to choose.

Ministerial sources told An Nahar daily published Monday that putting the appointments on the 48-item agenda of the cabinet came after Suleiman conditioned the minister to propose three candidates for each vacant post.

A parliamentary committee grilled Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn on Monday over the controversy that erupted after he alleged that members of al-Qaida were entering the eastern border town of Arsal under the guise of Syrian opposition activists.

MTV quoted Ghosn as telling the meeting of the defense, interior and municipalities committee that he didn't intend to say that al-Qaida has a presence in Arsal.

Israel is concerned Hizbullah will try to attack Israelis overseas in the coming weeks and ahead of the fourth anniversary of the assassination of the party’s military commander Imad Mughniyeh, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Mughniyeh was killed in a car bombing in Syria on Feb. 12, 2008. Hizbullah has accused Israel's intelligence service Mossad of assassinating him.

The Syndical Coordination Committee on Sunday threatened to stage fresh strikes and demonstrations, stressing that it represents “fifty percent of the regular labor force” and that “no one can marginalize” it in the ongoing debate over wage rectification.

“The Syndical Coordination Committee is an essential component of the price index committee and it is a major party in social dialogue and negotiation over the issue of salaries,” the SCC said in a statement following a meeting at the headquarters of the league of public secondary schools teachers.

A group of independent Christian figures on Sunday held a meeting at the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa to “discuss the national and political affairs and the outcome of the alignments and conflicts in Lebanon, inside and outside state institutes, and in the Arab world,” state-run National News Agency reported.

The conferees also discussed “the situations the Christians are going through, especially in the hotspots, and the repercussions of the sudden changes on their freedoms and existence.”

The Lebanese army command urged politicians on Sunday not to invest security issues for political objectives, saying they should preserve stability instead.

The communique said the army’s role in preserving the security of the Lebanese was above all consideration but “called for avoiding the discussion of highly dangerous security issues or using them for political purposes out of keenness on general stability.”

Lebanon aims to invite tenders to explore for offshore gas within three months, the energy minister said on Sunday, downplaying the risk of conflict with Israel despite a dispute over the maritime border.

"Our target is to begin within three months," Energy Minister Jebran Bassil told Agence France Presse.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called on Sunday for the establishment of a civil and democratic state that takes as its starting point the National Pact which has laid the foundation of the country’s multi-confessional system.

Al-Rahi said in his sermon that Lebanon’s political and social system should be fair and respect all the Lebanese. All civil servants should put their personal and sectarian interests aside and serve their nation, he stressed.