Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has stressed that the Change and Reform bloc “hasn’t yet reached the point of regret” for nominating Najib Miqati as premier but described the status quo as “dangerous” which will impose a review of the bloc’s policies.

In remarks to An Nahar daily published Friday, Bassil said that Miqati believed the bloc’s demand for 12 ministers in the new cabinet was exaggerated.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri credited on Thursday slain former Premier Rafik Hariri with rebuilding Beirut, saying that he helped transform it from a ghost town to a “city of dreams.”

Hariri made his statements during a ceremony unveiling a statue of the former prime minister before the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut.

The President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Judge Antonio Cassese, has issued a practice direction on the role of the head of the STL Defense Office, STL's press office announced Thursday.

"This is a guideline for conduct during court proceedings and it was written because of the novelty of the defense office," the press office clarified in a communiqué.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Thursday that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s speech on Wednesday presented positive possibilities that fundamental change will be introduced in Syria in favor of its people.

He said in a statement: “Should the Baath party decisions be implemented, then Syria’s national unity and internal stability will be fortified.”

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Thursday the importance of Syria’s stability on the economic and security situation in both Syria and Lebanon.

Visitors of the Baabda Palace reported him as expressing a hope that the situation in the Arab state would return to normal in order for it to resume its reform plans.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati praised in a telephone call with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday the Syrian people’s support for his leadership.

The premier also lauded them for obstructing attempts to create strife given the recent demonstrations in Syria.

Five people were injured in a gunbattle between Jund al-Sham members and Fatah gunmen at the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, media reports said Thursday.

The shooting took place after two hand grenades exploded at dawn near the house of Fatah al-Islam official Husam al-Shehabi.

Number-two Republican Senator Jon Kyl, a fierce critic of U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to engage Syria, said Washington should call for Syrian leader Bashar Assad to step down for undermining Lebanon’s democracy and smuggling weapons to Hizbullah.

“We should not be fooled by his sacking of his government. This is still the same Assad who undermined Lebanese democracy, who worked with North Korea to develop a clandestine nuclear capability, and who smuggles arms to Hizbullah and lends support to Hamas,” Kyl said in a statement on Wednesday.

The father and brother of Wael Abbas, the alleged leader of the group that kidnapped seven Estonian tourists in the Bekaa Valley last week, are in the custody of the Internal Security Forces, ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi said.

Earlier, the media had identified the ringleader as Darwish Khanjar.

Hizbullah denied on Thursday that it had trained Bahraini Shiite activists, saying it was only providing moral and political support to the opposition in the kingdom.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Hamad al-Khalifa said Wednesday that Shiite Bahrainis who have participated in the protests against the government “were trained in Lebanon.”