Bahrain on Tuesday returned confiscated passports to Lebanese citizens and allowed them to remain in Manama, days after expelling more than a dozen mainly Shiite Lebanese over "security concerns."

"Bahraini authorities have returned the passports of a number of Lebanese citizens living there after having confiscated them in preparation for their expulsion," a foreign ministry source in Beirut told Agence France Presse on Tuesday.

President Michel Suleiman held talks with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet in the Baabda palace on Tuesday.

Paet expressed his gratitude to the Lebanese security forces’ efforts in searching for the seven kidnapped Estonian cyclists.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati telephoned on Tuesday his Bahraini counterpart Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, thanking him for his efforts to halt procedures taken against some Lebanese residing in the Gulf state.

He assured him of his keenness of Bahrain’s stability and bolstering ties between the two countries.

Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat criticized House Speaker Nabih Berri’s handling of the case of Syria’s accusation against MP Jamal Jarrah of funding a terrorist cell seeking to destabilize the Arab state.

He told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday: “An accusation was directed against a member of parliament and his refusal to respond to the allegations means that he is allowing Jarrah’s blood to be spilled.”

A meeting held between the country’s top Christian officials in Bkirki on Tuesday was “friendly,” said a statement released after the talks but failed to say when the foes would meet again.

The four leaders “discussed the proposed issues by differentiating between what is agreed on and what is subject to legal political differences in a democratic nation that respects freedoms and distinctions,” Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayad said.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is scheduled to pay a visit to Lebanon on May 13-14, a French source told pan-Arab al-Hayat daily on Tuesday.

“Lebanon should be a free and sovereign country and become an example in the region due to its dynamic democratic institutions and peaceful coexistence among sects,” Juppe said in his statement during the “Arab Spring” symposium held at the Arab World Institute on Saturday.

Discussions on the formation of the cabinet made progress in the past 24 hours amid a report that Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would get 10 ministers and the interior minister would be a consensual figure.

An Nahar daily said Tuesday that efforts are underway to convince Aoun into accepting a 10-minister share among which two are state ministries. As for the interior ministry, President Michel Suleiman would name a neutral minister who gets the consent of Aoun and other March 8 forces.

Syria’s allies in Lebanon have expressed their firm support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, as the neighboring country faces unprecedented protests demanding the end of nearly 50 years of emergency rule.

"Today, we stand yet again by our sister Syria ... and by Syria's leaders who have refused to give into pressure or ... to conspire against the resistance," Hizbullah MP Nawaf Moussawi said on Monday during a press conference entitled "In solidarity with Syria against the American-Zionist-Western plot to undermine its national, pan-Arab and resistance role."

A Roumieh prison inmate has died after suffering from a shortness of breath, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday, raising the toll of prisoners who died in the past month to four.

Human Rights activist Ali Khalil confirmed that Hatem al-Zain, 78, died because his health deteriorated after inhaling smoke during the riots at the prison earlier in the month.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh on Monday said a meeting between Lebanon’s top Christian leaders scheduled for Tuesday was not aimed at achieving reconciliation among the rival political players.

The meeting, which will be held at the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki under the auspices of newly-elected patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, will gather Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Franjieh.