Premier Najib Miqati told the cabinet on Wednesday that he expects the government to discuss the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon next week and hoped that each party would assume its responsibility towards the controversial issue.

An Nahar daily said Thursday that several cabinet ministers inquired Miqati about reports that he intended to resign if the cabinet failed to pay its 49 percent share to the STL - $33 million this year.

Lebanese Forces MP Elie Keyrouz requested in a memo to Speaker Nabih Berri that his inquiry to the government over the abduction of Syrian opposition members in Lebanon be changed into a debriefing.

He said that this request stems from the abduction of the Syrians, who are then handed over to Syrian authorities “in a violation of humanitarian laws.”

Lebanon commemorated on Tuesday its 68th independence anniversary in downtown Beirut, marking the liberation from the French Mandate which was exercised over Lebanese soil for over 23 years.

President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, and Speaker Nabih Berri headed the officials that joined the celebrations marking the country’s independence.

Speaker Nabih Berri is annoyed at the lack of contacts with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Berri’s visitors told the daily that he doesn’t want the political boycott to last any further, expressing relief after al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora attended a dinner banquet held in honor of visiting Brazilian Vice-President Michel Temer.

Premier Najib Miqati advised the young generation on Sunday not to become followers as Speaker Nabih Berri urged Lebanese children to spearhead the rejection of political confessionalism.

During the opening of the Parliament of Children, Berri told the youngsters: “Become the vanguards of the people that want to abolish political sectarianism, lower the voting age and call for the participation of women” in political life.

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Saturday that Lebanon will overcome the crises and maintain its stability.

“Lebanon will overcome crises and preserve its security and stability,” Berri said during a dinner banquet in honor of Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer.

President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri’s calls to resume the national dialogue have remained unanswered given the division between the government forces and opposition over the purpose of holding the talks, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It said that the two officials were expected to hold talks after the last week’s al-Adha holiday in order to discuss resuming the dialogue, but the meeting did not transpire.

The Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali stressed on Friday that Syrian President Bashar Assad is implementing reform despite the media uproar indicating the contrary.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “The international pressure against Syria will crumble before its national unity and its leadership’s responsible policies towards all challenges.”

Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday called on his supporters to endorse the approach of “peaceful resistance” in the domestic arena.

Addressing an AMAL student delegation from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Berri said: “If the effective tactic to confront the Israeli enemy is armed resistance, the tactic in the domestic arena should be peaceful resistance.

Lebanon's decision to stand by Syria's embattled Bashar Assad has deepened the rift between the March 8-dominated government and the March 14-led opposition.

"The decision of the Lebanese government to support the Syrian regime went against the current of the Arab Spring and ... ignored the wishes of a large part of its own population," said Imad Salamey, political science professor at the Lebanese American University.