Speaker Nabih Berri announced that the AMAL Movement ministers will take “the appropriate stand that will serve the Lebanese people” regarding the various pending issues in Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “I will not intervene in the dispute, but I will wait a week or two before I make my stand.”

The Minister of Administrative Development Mohammed Fneish announced that his ministry is ready to begin the proceedings to appoint the members of the recently-approved authority tasked with administering the oil sector, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He told the newspaper that he is prepared to carry out the necessary contacts with the Energy Ministry on Monday to this end.

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi warned against the failure to resolve the dispute over the judicial appointments before June 5, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He told the daily: “The failure to resolve the matter will cripple the judiciary.”

Speaker Nabih Berri slammed the government on Friday for failing to appoint civil servants to posts in state institutions and mainly employees linked to the premier’s office.

“Why haven’t the vacant seats been filled ten months after the formation of the cabinet?” Berri wondered in remarks to As Safir daily.

Speaker Nabih Berri issued another warning on Friday that parliament would hold the government accountable if it fails to appoint the members of the oil authority.

The cabinet’s adoption of the authority’s formation bill is not enough to avoid a parliamentary grilling, Berri said in remarks published in several dailies.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Thursday he would soon issue a “Service Passport” which would be used by its holder for a specific official mission abroad.

Mansour told An Nahar daily the passport would be given to officials with special missions in other countries on condition that they hand over the document to the ministry upon their return to Lebanon.

The cabinet is expected on Wednesday to tackle the appointment of the six members of the authority tasked with administrating the oil sector, An Nahar newspaper reported.

“It is unacceptable to waste our oil and gas natural resources while Israel is exerting efforts to benefit from it… If the cabinet remained at a standstill I will then take the necessary measure,” Speaker Nabih Berri told the daily.

U.S. Special Coordinator for Regional Affairs Frederic Hof visited Lebanon on Monday where he held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Miqati and other senior government officials, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

He renewed his country’s commitment to a stable, sovereign, and independent Lebanon, encouraging it to continue its efforts to resolve the dispute over its maritime boundaries.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that escalation will not benefit any side in Lebanon as tranquility is the only way to resolve disputes and maintain stability.

“It’s the same old rhetoric, escalation will not benefit anyone, and calm is the only way to resolve the issues,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to discuss with the Parliament’s Bureau on Monday complaints that Special Passports are being granted to people not entitled to get them in contravention with the Vienna Convention that regulates diplomatic relations.

Berri brought up the issue with President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati after he learned that high-ranking military personnel, judges, advisors of ministers and even some journalists and clergymen were being granted the passports, An Nahar daily said.