Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday revealed that an “important development” in the case of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr will happen “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” calling for national unity in the face of Israel and warning that the Syrian crisis is “threatening to destroy the neighboring countries” and the region.

“We are determined to exert all efforts to liberate Imam Sadr and his two dear companions,” said Berri at a mass rally in Nabatiyeh on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the disappearance of the revered imam.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday the importance of swiftly completing the necessary steps to launch oil exploration off Lebanon’s shore.

“This vital issue shouldn’t be delayed,” Berri told MPs during his weekly meeting with lawmakers.

Speaker Nabih Berri confirmed that Lebanon will chair the Arab League Ministerial Council in September, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.

He told the newspaper: “This opportunity comes once every 11 years and Lebanon must not miss it.”

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Wednesday that he hasn’t studied yet an official request to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity as he was busy dealing with the emergency developments.

“I will do that as soon as possible,” Berri told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday told his Kuwaiti counterpart Jassem al-Kharafi during a phone conversation that Lebanon is eager to end the abduction of Kuwaiti citizen Issam al-Houti soon, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA reported.

“All Lebanese security agencies are on the highest state of alert to find the Kuwaiti citizen and guarantee his immediate release,” al-Kharafi quoted Berri as saying.

Speaker Nabih Berri noted that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon is not strictly aimed at Christians, but all of the Lebanese people, especially in light of recent developments in the country, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He called on “everyone to welcome the visit and benefit from it in order to assert Lebanon’s role in the region given the critical situation.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is scheduled to travel to Iran on Sunday to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

President Michel Suleiman is set to travel to Tehran to attend the summit later next week.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari called on Speaker Nabih Berri to return a request filed by Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity, considering that it violates the constitution.

“I hope that Berri would act upon his typical wisdom and returns the request as failing to approve it at the joint meeting between the parliament’s bureau and the administrative committee would be exploited by some officials to create strife” in the country, Makari said in a statement issued by his press office.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour revealed on Friday that his ministry finished a detailed report over the Exclusive Economic Zone and referred it a month ago to the cabinet’s general secretariat.

He wondered in comments published in As Safir newspaper why the issue wasn’t set for discussion on the cabinet’s agenda.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that he will study an official request to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity as the March 14 opposition alliance lashed out at Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi threatening to resort to article 39 of constitution.

“I will study the matter before sending the request to the parliament's bureau and the administrative committee,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper on Friday.