Protest movement groups on Monday filed a lawsuit with Financial Prosecutor Ali Ibrahim against caretaker Telecom Minister Mohammed Choucair and others over what they called the “illegal” extension of the contracts of Lebanon’s mobile network operators Alfa and touch.

The lawsuit accuses Choucair and anyone identified during investigations of “the waste of public funds and the violation of the public auditing law” by seeking to “smuggle the extension contract with touch and Alfa in violation of the law, despite the report of the telecom parliamentary committee and a previous lawsuit by the financial prosecution against the directors of the two firms on charges of illicit enrichment and graft.”

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Monday called on Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab to disregard the “veto of those who have decided not to take part” in the new government, in an apparent reference to caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his al-Mustaqbal Movement.

“The phase of choosing the premier has ended, seeing as Dr. Hassan Diab has been appointed at PM-designate and his mission must be facilitated,” Qassem said.

Dozens of protesters held sit-ins near banks in the Aley district town of Qabrshmoun on Monday, part of their focus on banking policies and unprecedented capital controls to protect their deposits.

Hizbullah on Monday denounced the U.S. air strikes against a pro-Iran militant group in Iraq that killed 19 fighters.

A meeting is expected between President Michel Aoun and PM-designate Hassan Diab to “evaluate” the latter’s meetings with Hizbullah, AMAL Movement and other political parties on the formation of the government, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

The journalist Salem Zahran, who is close to Hizbullah, on Sunday divulged some details pertaining to the new government.

“The names of the men ministers have become near-final while the search is ongoing for women ministers to complete the line-up,” Zahran tweeted.

The head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad warned Sunday that the “strong” parties would control the country should chaos prevail.

“Some want to implicate the Resistance is something it does not want, but it wants to practice a positive role so that the country does not collapse over the heads of everyone,” Raad said.

Anti-corruption protesters on Sunday scuffled with the guards of the house of caretaker Telecom Minister Mohammed Choucair in Beirut’s Hamra area.

Protesters said the guards beat up a number of young men who tried to enter the building.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday warned against “the exclusion or marginalization of any main component in Lebanon,” amid ongoing negotiations to form a new government.

“Lebanon cannot be ruled through hegemony, confrontation or a one-sided government,” al-Rahi cautioned in his Sunday Mass sermon.

The Lebanese judiciary has launched an investigation into reports claiming that nine Lebanese politicians have transferred $2 billion abroad over the past 15 days, a media report said.

The judicial probe got underway simultaneously with the investigations that are being carried out by the central bank, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Sunday.