Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin praised on Wednesday Lebanese officials for seeking to find common ground over disputed matters, expressing optimism over the situation in the country.

“This is a good start,” Zasypkin told reporters after holding talks with caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Bustros Palace.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly welcomed on Wednesday President Michel Suleiman's nomination of Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam as a “positive first step” in efforts to form a new government.

She reiterated after holding talks with the president “the United States’ position that the Lebanese people deserve a government that reflects their aspirations and that strengthens Lebanon’s stability, sovereignty, and independence while fulfilling its international commitments.”

Parliament agreed on Wednesday to suspend the deadline for submitting nominations for the parliamentary elections.

It agreed to suspend the deadline to May 19.

Around 600 Lebanese citizens signed a petition that rejects the adoption of the so-called Orthodox Gathering draft-law during the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Lawmakers, Ministers, businessmen, journalists, academicians and activists signed the petition that will be handed over to President Michel Suleiman and the parliament.

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Tuesday the latest deadly sectarian violence in Egypt, including an attack on the main cathedral in Cairo, and called for coexistence.

In a statement issued by his press office, Suleiman condemned “all acts that harm the history of coexistence among societies in the Arab world and mainly Egypt.”

Disagreements between rival parties on the elections spiraled out of control on Tuesday leading to the postponement of a parliamentary session after a camp backed the suspension of candidacies for the June elections and another sought an extension.

A largescale meeting for parliament's bureau was held under Speaker Nabih Berri on Tuesday morning after a similar meeting the day before. It was attended by Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati, lawmakers from the Lebanese Forces and the Phalange and Marada movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi revealed on Monday that all political parties were exerting efforts to strike a deal on a hybrid vote law after the four major Christian parties decided to suspend the Orthodox Gathering proposal.

“The hybrid electoral draft-law is everybody's demand,” said al-Rahi at Rafik Hariri International Airport before traveling to France.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam began on Monday to tour former premiers in a protocol measure ahead of holding consultations with parliamentary blocs on the type of the government and the division of portfolios.

Salam's first stop was the residence of caretaker PM Najib Miqati in Verdun.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora hoped on Sunday for a “homogenous group” in the government that Premier-designate Tammam Salam will start forming next week.

“We should unite and help the formation of the cabinet,” Saniora told his visitors in Sidon.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam's priority for a "national interest government" blocks the appointment of ministers who are planning to run in the parliamentary elections and prevents a portfolio from being monopolized by a single sect, officials close to Salam said Sunday.

The officials told An Nahar newspaper that the PM-designate's priority is to set the shape and identity of the new cabinet.