Justice Minister Shaqib Qortbawi revealed on Wednesday that he is at the stage of processing the names of the judges that are qualified to succeed General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza.

“I hope that we will not witness any dispute over the names,” Qortbawi told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday held talks with the leaders of Qatar and the UAE as part of his attempts to persuade several Gulf countries to reconsider their travel warnings to Lebanon.

In Doha, Suleiman briefed Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani on his recent call for resuming all-party talks, in line with the 2008 Doha Agreement, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

President Michel Suleiman was on Wednesday still waiting for the March 14 opposition’s stance on his invitation for the national dialogue, five days before Lebanon’s top officials meet at Baabda palace to resolve the country’s lingering problems.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Suleiman said he hasn’t yet received a final answer from the opposition on its participation in the all-party talks. “But I believe it is not in the interest of any side not to participate in the dialogue or to obstruct it.”

Contacts are ongoing with the different factions in Tripoli to maintain calm in the northern city and to halt any security violations by any side, al-Liwaa newspaper reported.

According to the daily, officials are continuing their efforts to preserve stability in Tripoli, urging Arab Democratic Party official Rifaat Eid, who leads the mainly Alawite neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, and several leaders of the rival neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh, not to slip over into new clashes.

The cabinet will approve a draft-law to legalize the controversial extra-budgetary spending during its session on Thursday, President Michel Suleiman announced.

In remarks to As Safir daily on Wednesday, Suleiman said the government will resolve the dispute on the spending through legal ways and will not resort to a political settlement.

President Michel Suleiman stressed Tuesday the necessity of resorting to dialogue, as the only way “to agree on the integrity of national security, the thing that would remove the weapons of civil strife”.

In a speech marking the World Environment Day, Suleiman said that “economic progress is a main condition to achieve development, modernization and state authority.”

Tripoli and the North Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar urged on Tuesday the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen to reconcile and resolve disputes among each other.

“The two sides should cooperate and find consensus in an attempt to remove all the obstacles between the two neighbors,” Shaar said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail.

Division among cabinet members regarding the 2012 state budget witnessed a breakthrough on Tuesday as ongoing contacts among officials were perceived positively by different government parties.

Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, who is loyal to AMAL, Hizbullah Minister of Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish and Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, loyal to the Free Patriotic Movement, have exerted efforts during the past period in order resolve the prolonged crisis paralyzing the state.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle is scheduled to arrive in Lebanon on Thursday in the first of a series of visits by European officials aimed at voicing support for Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Tuesday.

A European diplomat told the daily that the visits are a “show of support for Lebanon given the deteriorating Syrian crisis.”

The United Arab Emirates will expel around 1,000 Lebanese expats living in the country as President Michel Suleiman is scheduled to head to the gulf state on Wednesday.

Some of the Lebanese expats, who were expelled during the past few weeks, were forced to sign a document claiming that they support Hizbullah or that they are carrying out “illegal security acts,” al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.