U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed serious concern over the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on the security and political situation in Lebanon.

In his semi-annual report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, Ban condemned the violence along the Lebanese-Syrian border which has inflicted scores of casualties.

President Michel Suleiman said that the sniper attack on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea can’t be considered yet an “assassination attempt.”

“Until now, it can only be considered as a shooting and the investigations would reveal if it was an assassination attempt… and I hope it’s not,” Suleiman told reporters in Sydney.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly denied any plans to set up refugee camps for the Syrians in Lebanon, praising the Lebanese authorities’ commitment to the humanitarian needs of the displaced.

“The number of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon is increasing and I was impressed by the hospitable Lebanese residents along the border,” Plumbly said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper published on Friday.

President Michel Suleiman expressed confidence on Thursday that the parties rejecting proportional representation in the parliamentary elections will eventually support it.

“Those publically standing against proportionality today will be with it in the future,” Suleiman told As Safir daily about al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat.

President Michel Suleiman said he informed the delegation visiting Australia with him that the government will draft a law that would allow Lebanese expatriates to vote in the parliamentary elections.

In remarks to reporters accompanying him in his trip, Suleiman said the expats are an added value for Lebanon.

President Michel Suleiman noted on Tuesday the social diversity in Lebanon and Australia, adding that the challenges faced in the world require solutions that “go beyond national limits.”

He said: “Diversity cannot survive without dialogue, moderation, and partnership.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has launched an initiative for the adoption of a draft-law on the parliamentary elections that would consider Lebanon a single electoral district to appease both ex-PM Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat who have rejected proportionality.

Berri’s initiative lies in carrying out the polls in 2013 on the basis of a single electoral district through a proportional representation to form a parliament that would preserve the rights of sects and shares while limiting the high-level of sectarianism, As Safir daily reported Tuesday.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has embarked on an initiative aimed at finding a settlement in the row over governmental spending, MTV reported on Monday.

“PSP's sources did not deny the presence of an initiative by Jumblat to resolve the financial dispute, but things have just started and they need further efforts,” the TV network reported.

President Michel Suleiman on Monday stressed that “Lebanon is not an arena for settling scores or conflict, but rather an arena for the rapprochement of all Arab brothers,” noting that “Lebanon will not be a launch pad for sabotage or attack against any Arab nation, particularly Syria.”

In a speech before members of the Lebanese community in Canberra, Suleiman said: “What concerns us in Syria is democracy, and the latest referendum has shown that everyone in Syria wants democracy.”

President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati have been informed about the frustration of Syrian authorities from their condemnation of the killing of a Lebanese cameraman ahead of an investigation into the incident, ministerial sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published Monday that Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali and the head of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council, Nasri Khoury, informed both Suleiman and Miqati about the disappointment of the Damascus regime.