President Michel Suleiman said on Thursday that the Lebanese leaders will tackle the controversial defense strategy, Hizbullah’s arsenal, weapons spread across the country in addition to armed Palestinian bases outside the refugee camps at the second round of the all-party talks.

“We had to set the framework of our agenda at the first session,” Suleiman told As Safir newspaper.

The March 14 opposition coalition intends to stir the issue of Syrian violations of Lebanese sovereignty during the next national dialogue session later this month, high-ranking sources said Thursday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that the opposition representatives at the all-party talks will bring up the issue on June 25 when top Lebanese leaders convene for the second time since the dialogue resumed under President Michel Suleiman last Monday.

The Foreign Ministry will establish a hotline for the Lebanese expats across the world to enable them to contact the Lebanese authorities in case of emergencies, As Safir newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the daily, the expatriates will be able to contact the Lebanese authorities through calling this hotline if they were subjected to any kind of accidents and they needed the support of the state.

The Lebanese Forces announced on Wednesday the nomination of Dr. Fadi Abdallah Karam, the former chairman of Tripoli’s dentists’ syndicate, to run in the parliamentary by-election in Koura after the death of MP Farid Habib.

LF leader Samir Geagea held a press conference in Maarab to announce the “unanimous nomination of comrade Dr. Fadi Abdallah Karam to contest the by-election for the vacant seat of Koura after the death of our comrade Farid Habib.”

The crisis in Syria and its impact on Lebanon have put in doubt Pope Benedict XVI's planned visit to Lebanon in September, reports said Wednesday.

The trip scheduled for September 14 to 16 remains confirmed on the program published regularly on the pope's planned visits.

Two Lebanese rights groups, Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE) and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights, urged on Wednesday U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan and Syrian National Council chief Abdul Basset Sayda to express a clear stance regarding the 11 abducted Lebanese in Syria.

The two groups issued a joint open letter, urging Annan and Sayda to express a clear stance regarding the practices that violate human rights, hoping that such practices “will not be the kind of change sought in the future Syria.”

Syrian troops on Wednesday crossed into Lebanon's eastern border region of Masharii al-Qaa and planted mines around the home of a local resident before withdrawing, a Lebanese security official told Agence France Presse.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s Trial Chamber held a hearing on Wednesday on defense motions challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

The defense teams for the four Hizbullah members indicted in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri filed the separate motions last month although their arguments overlap.

Syrian security forces infiltrated the outskirts of the eastern town of Arsal on Wednesday and kidnapped a Lebanese man identified as Mohammed Khaled al-Hujairi.

He was soon released by the Syrian forces and handed over to the Lebanese army, his cousin Mohammed Hassan al-Hujairi revealed to Agence France Presse.

President Michel Suleiman expressed contentment on Wednesday on the “positive” outcome of the resumption of the national dialogue between Lebanese leaders.

“We are seeking consensus between us… It’s normal to have different opinions concerning the results of the first session,” Suleiman said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper.