The Government tasked the Council of Development and Reconstruction on Monday with dismantling the metal bridge in Jal el-Dib and building a new one.

Following a session held at Baabda palace, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said: “The Council of Ministers agreed to task the Council of Development and Reconstruction with removing the bridge and begin building a new bridge in a U form in accordance with the existing map.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Monday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour’s position on the Syrian crisis, saying that it is harming Lebanon’s credibility.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “If only Lebanon’s envoy at the Arab League meetings would remain silent over the Syrian crisis instead of proposing solutions to the unrest.”

Beirut Examining Magistrate Ghassan Owaidat issued on Monday two arrest warrants against Michel and Claude Saadeh, the owners of the Ashrafiyeh building that collapsed on January 15 and left 27 dead.

Owaidat first questioned Michel at around 11:00 am in the presence of his lawyer Rabih Abdul Sater, the National News Agency reported.

At least 22 civilians, five regime troops and an army deserter were killed in fresh violence across Syria on Monday, activists and a rights group said, also reporting a string of clashes between deserters and the army.

The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 23 people -- "including two children, a rebel soldier and two who died under torture."

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare is expected to hold a series of talks with Lebanese officials during a two-day farewell visit to Beirut on Thursday.

An Nahar daily said Monday that Bellemare will discuss with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel the results of the investigations carried out by the Lebanese security agencies on issues linked to the court’s work.

Speaker Nabih Berri urged Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to come up with a clear plan to resolve the electricity crisis, saying parliament has done its part in endorsing a draft law.

Several newspapers on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors that he rejected claims by Bassil about deterioration in the electricity situation in the future.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has warned the government that it should assume its responsibilities in resolving the electricity crisis gripping Lebanon or else it would be doomed.

“There are obstacles from several sides,” Bassil told As Safir daily published Monday, reiterating claims that certain parties were hindering the implementation of power projects.

Two Lebanese fishermen and the body of a third were handed over to the Lebanese army through the Abboudiyeh crossing at dawn Sunday after they were seized by Syria off the coast of the town of Arida the day before.

Sixteen-year-old Maher Hamad was killed and his uncles Fadi and Khaled, were seized and taken to the coastal city of Tartus in Syria after the Syrian navy opened fire on their boat.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour assured on Saturday that the Lebanese community in Nigeria is safe, noting that they were not harmed by the security incidents in that country.

According to the National News Agency, Mansour telephoned Lebanese ambassador to Nigeria Iman Younis inquiring about the situation.

Syrian authorities confirmed on Saturday that forces detained a Lebanese boat smuggling boxes from northern Lebanon into the territorial waters off the Syrian village of Kherabh.

According to SANA, Lebanese gunmen opened fire at the boat while Syrian authorities were allegedly trying to inquire the members about the cargo on the boat.