Grand imam of al-Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb condemned on Saturday the position of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Christians in the East.

“The Christians in the east are part of the national fabric in the states,” al-Tayeb said during a meeting with Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Khaled Ziade.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Saturday that the Syrian regime will surpass the crisis, urging “friends” to support it to implement reforms.

“I am sure that the Syrian leadership will pass the crisis by implementing reforms and the peoples’ demands,” Mansour said after a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem in New York.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Saturday urged Hizbullah to take a bold decision and hand in their weapons to the state after they fulfilled their role in the year 2000, stressing that the fear of extremism does not justify the crimes of dictatorships that created it in the first place.

“Some of you might think that Hizbullah’s arms protect and strengthens you, but you have missed that our protection can only be achieved through the Lebanese state,” Geagea said in a speech commemorating fallen members of his party.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday lashed out at a speech given by Israeli Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United Nations General Assembly, Saying it was filled with “contempt” and “grudge.”

“Hizbullah doesn’t preside over the U.N. Security Council nor do President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister (Najib Miqati), but Lebanon does the state that was slaughtered (by Israel) in 1996,” Berri said in a statement.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Saturday that God would inspire political leaders to take the appropriate decisions that would fall in Lebanon’s favor.

He said from the southern city of Tyre: “We hope they will take political decisions that can ensure the people’s freedom and protect the coexistence between Muslims and Christians in Lebanon and the whole region.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised on Saturday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech at the United Nations where he demanded that Palestine be admitted as a full member state at the international organization.

He said in a statement: “The speech revealed Israel’s hostile plans and its hidden intentions to reject all efforts to achieve peace.”

A member of the Internal Security Forces was killed Friday night when a clash broke out between the al-Qaq and al-Dar families in the Bir Hassan neighborhood in Beirut, reported the National News Agency on Saturday.

It explained that heavy machine guns were used in the dispute.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly informed Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi of her country’s disappointment with his recent statements, reported As Safir on Saturday.

Al-Rahi had recently stated that Hizbullah’s arms are a product of the Israeli occupation, which sparked Connelly’s consternation.

Heavy gunshots were fired from Syria towards villages in the northern region of Akkar Friday night, creating a state of panic among the residents in the area, reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Saturday.

Several of them consequently moved to nearby villages in al-Rihanieh and Wadi Khaled to escape the gunshots.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encouraged on Thursday Lebanon to invest in its natural resources that are located in areas that are not under dispute, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It revealed that Ban “surprised” the Lebanese delegation in New York by bringing up the issue of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559, especially regarding the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon.