Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud announced on Thursday that he will no longer carry out his duties as a caretaker minister.

He said during a press conference in response to this morning’s incidents at one of the Telecommunications Ministry buildings in the Adlieh district: “It appears to me that reason in Lebanon has taken a holiday and the law has become a point of view.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Thursday returned to Beirut from the Vatican, after participating in the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on Sunday.

Flanked by President Michel Suleiman’s representative, caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud, al-Rahi told reporters at the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport that the minister’s latest decision to refrain from participation in the new cabinet reflected his “culture of sacrifice and giving,” lauding Baroud for “putting public welfare above all private interests.”

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati held talks with President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday on the ongoing efforts to form a new government, reported Voice of Lebanon Radio.

The meeting focused on maintaining contacts to ease various sides’ demands in the government formation, while a final structure for the Cabinet is expected soon.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati was on Tuesday mulling to form a de facto government after President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun continued to hold onto their demands for the interior ministry portfolio as part of their shares in the new cabinet.

Aoun’s accusations against Suleiman and Miqati on Monday for being responsible behind the delay in the formation of the cabinet further complicated the process.

Sources monitoring the contacts to form a new government stated that the efforts to ease the demands over the cabinet are still delaying its formation, adding however that caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s announcement that he does not seek to be reappointed as minister will help restore dialogue among the disputed sides.

They told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat in remarks published on Monday that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun should be receptive of President Michel Suleiman’s refusal to enter in a dispute with him regarding the former’s insistence on acquiring the Interior Ministry portfolio.

An internal security forces patrol was intercepted on Sunday as it was heading to the town of Aitet in the Tyre area in order to thwart a construction violation, reported the National News Agency on Sunday.

It said that a Renault Rapid car, without a license plate and with tinted windows, followed by 20 vehicles intercepted the patrol.

Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud announced on Saturday that he had informed President Michel Suleiman three months ago of his intention not to be reappointed as a minister.

He added: “I will not allow myself to stand as an obstacle in the government formation process as the media has been lately trying to demonstrate.”

Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud has said that the government is taking responsibility for removing all illegal construction on state property.

“The state institutions did their duties. This issue isn’t targeting the residents, but it is against those who are violating the public right,” Baroud told As Safir newspaper.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati was reportedly readying a cabinet lineup had Hizbullah agreed to name its ministers but the Shiite group stressed that a solution to the bickering between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun should be found before making that step.

As Safir daily said Wednesday that Hizbullah’s stance was seen as a covert support for Aoun who is demanding the interior ministry portfolio as part of his share in the new government. But Suleiman is adamant on keeping the ministry which is headed by Ziad Baroud in the caretaker cabinet.

Building violations on state property have reached dangerous proportions after violations neared the fence of Rafik Hariri international airport, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily said that violators had built illegally on state property near the new 16th seaside tarmac of the airport and the old number 17 runway, the daily said, warning that such a move could go all the way towards putting the facility on the international blacklist.