Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri discussed separately with Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, the latest developments on the controversial electoral draft-law issue, Hariri's media office said in a statement Friday.

In a phone call, Hariri and Berri tackled the latest developments in that regard and the efforts exerted to reach common ground between conflicting parliamentary blocs on an electoral law that meets approval of all, the statement added.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is expected to hold talks on Friday with President Michel Suleiman to brief him on the so-called “Rome agreement,” ahead of a wide meeting with the main Christian leaders.

Al-Liwaa newspaper reported that al-Rahi sought to meet with Suleiman to inform him of the agreement that was agreed upon with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati during their recent visit to Rome.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour criticized on Thursday reports that said he had deemed Syrian shelling of Lebanese territory as rumors, saying that he will not comment on the campaign being directed against him.

He told the National News Agency: “I abide by the orders of President Michel Suleiman, the prime minister, and government.”

The cabinet is likely to approve a draft-law on the long-awaited salary scale on Thursday during a key session that will surely witness a heated debate over two other controversial items on its agenda linked to the parliamentary elections this June.

The new salary scale for the public sector draft that is tied to an increase in working hours and a tax hike on luxury goods in 19 articles linked to funding sources is expected to be approved by the cabinet during its session at Baabda palace.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-Moon expressed “grave concern” over the “serious” cross-border incidents between Syria and Lebanon, calling on Damascus to respect the neighboring country's sovereignty.

U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky quoted the secretary-general as saying on Wednesday night that the reported Syrian strikes in the Lebanese eastern town of Arsal are a violation of the country's sovereignty.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati tasked on Wednesday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour with following up the Syrian bombardment of Lebanese border towns.

“The army is taking the necessary measures to control the border with the neighboring country,” Information Minister Walid Daouq quoted Miqati as saying after a cabinet session held at the Grand Serail.

The March 14 General Secretariat accused on Wednesday the Syrian regime of seeking to create strife and unrest in Lebanon, the most recent of these attempts were the attacks against the Dar al-Fatwa clerics in Beirut on Sunday.

It demanded in a statement after its weekly meeting that a “complaint be filed at the United Nations Security Council to protest the Syrian regime's ongoing violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, especially after its jets shelled Lebanese territory.”

Five Syrian shells landed near a Lebanese border town in the northeast on Wednesday, two days after Syrian air strikes along the border area, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the shells landed on the outskirts of the town of al-Qasr in Hermel district.

Syndicate Coordination Committee protesters squabbled on Wednesday with head of the vehicle registration authority in Dekwaneh after he prevented them from entering its premises.

Head of the authority, Colonel George Lattouf, banned the protesters from entering the premises causing anger among their ranks, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Divisions between cabinet members on several controversial issues are likely to exacerbate on Thursday over the formation of the authority that would supervise the elections, which is rejected by the Hizbullah-led majority.

A cabinet session that is set to be held at Baabda palace could either witness a last minute deal to form the authority or March 8 majority ministers could vote against it if President Michel Suleiman insisted on putting it up to vote.