Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati stressed on openness and dialogue and said he was comfortable at the local atmosphere and the prospect of ties with the Arab world and the international community.

In remarks to An Nahar and al-Hayat newspapers on Thursday, Miqati described regional and international reactions to his mission as “very good.”

The March 14 general-secretariat announced on Wednesday its rejection of a future government that aims at abolishing the international tribunal and tolerating weapons.

“We won’t accept the cabinet because it will come to abolish the court and tolerate weapons,” said general-secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid.

“False Witness” Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq has unveiled that he holds seven important recordings that implicate top Syrian officers in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination.

Siddiq called al-Jadid TV’s anchorman George Salibi during his talk show Sunday night and made the revelation. He said he is going to deliver the tapes to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon at The Hague.

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council of Russia has stressed that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was the best means to avoid more political assassinations in Lebanon.

Russia’s Novosti news agency quoted Mikhail Margelov as saying on Sunday that Moscow has reiterated its support for the tribunal. He stressed the court should be professional and unbiased.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday announced that consultations on appointing a new prime minister would begin on Monday, following the collapse of the national unity government.

"Consultations with parliamentarians will begin Monday at 12:00 p.m.," Berri said after talks with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace, adding that "the meeting was very good."

Israeli army chief of staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi has unveiled that an anti-tank missile used by Hizbullah during the 2006 war penetrated a tank's outer shell earlier this month.

Ashkenazi told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that the Kornet missile fired in the Gaza Strip penetrated the tank's outer shell but failed to explode inside. There were no injuries in the incident.

The March 14 general-secretariat criticized on Wednesday efforts aimed at targeting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the indictment that will be issued in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

“Some politicians continue to make news conferences that do not bring anything new to (efforts aimed at) targeting the indictment and the international tribunal,” the general-secretariat said following its weekly meeting.

A group of March 14 officials and intellectuals will launch an initiative on Tuesday on ways to use the indictment that will be issued by the international tribunal to consolidate stability in Lebanon, March 14 general-secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid told Voice of Lebanon radio station.

The initiative, which will be in the form of a political document, will be announced at hotel Le Gabriel on Tuesday afternoon, he said. It will be aimed at consolidating stability and justice and paving the way for consensus among Lebanese.

Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Assiri said Monday that the Saudi-Syrian initiative aimed at ending the Lebanese crisis was not linked to the indictment that will be issued by the international tribunal in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

“The Saudi-Syrian initiative … is ongoing and will continue. It has nothing to do with a decision or the release of an indictment,” Assiri told Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Hizbullah deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem expressed optimism that the Syrian-Saudi initiative would solve the Lebanese crisis before the international tribunal issues its indictment in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

“There is still an opportunity to find a solution but the door will not remain open forever,” Qassem told As Safir newspaper in remarks published Saturday.