A large-scale meeting of the opposition March 14 forces is scheduled to be held in the residence of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea in Maarab on Wednesday in a show of support after his escape from an assassination attempt last week.

The March 14 general-secretariat has invited around 200 personalities, including party leaders, lawmakers and former ministers to participate in the meeting in Maarab at 5:00 pm, An Nahar daily said.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is determined to accelerate the appointment of top civil servants in state posts and to pressure cabinet ministers to exert efforts concerning this issue, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Sources close to Miqati said that the premier is keen to overcome the obstacles facing the appointments.

Jal el-Dib residents blocked on Tuesday the highway in the area of the dismantled bridge for the second week in a row to protest the lack of an alternative for traffic.

The angry protestors also blocked the coastal road that allows commuters to have access to Beirut until 11:00 am, causing bumper-to-bumper traffic during the morning rush hour.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Monday “strongly” deplored the fatal cross-border shootings from Syria into Lebanon and Turkey earlier in the day, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said in a statement.

Ban also made a final plea for President Bashar al-Assad to halt attacks on civilians ahead of a Tuesday deadline to withdraw troops and heavy guns from Syria's cities.

President Michel Suleiman called on Syria to investigate the deadly cross-border shooting that targeted an al-Jadeed TV crew on Monday “in order to prevent the recurrence of such attacks,” as Premier Najib Miqati urged Damascus to “hold the perpetrators accountable” and ex-PM Saad Hariri blamed Miqati’s government for “turning a blind eye to the Syrian violations.”

Suleiman telephoned al-Jadeed’s owner, Tahsin Khayyat, expressing his condolences. He also telephoned Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council chief Nasri Khouri and Lebanese Ambassador to Syria Michel Khouri, asking them to follow up on the investigations.

Al-Jadeed TV cameraman Ali Shaaban was killed on Monday in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled when he and two of his colleagues came under gunfire from the Syrian side of the border.

Reporter Hussein Khreis and cameraman Abed Khayyat managed to escape unharmed.

Phalange Party leader Amine Gemayel expressed fear on Monday that the Syrian turmoil might spill into Lebanon over the sharp differences between parties on their stances from the regime.

“Lebanon should disassociate itself from the developments in Syria,” he told reporters.

Burglars shot dead a citizen who tried to stop them from stealing his neighbor’s house in the town of Bechmezzine in Koura in northern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

According to the news agency the thieves were trying to rob the house of Kamil al-Najjar, when his neighbor George al-Najjar heard the noises and tried to stop them.

The March 14 forces warned the cabinet on Monday against handing over any Syrian refugees who entered the country to escape the Syrian regime’s crackdown against protests, the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Seyassah reported.

According to sources the opposition will take all the necessary measures on the issue and will hold the government responsible for the repercussions of such a decision on Lebanon.

The March 14 forces MPs are expected to discuss the telecom data during the general parliamentary sessions set to assess the cabinet’s performance on April 17-19, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Monday.

According to the daily, Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui will be questioned about preventing the security authorities from obtaining the telecom data.