Hizbullah has exerted strong efforts to prevent Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi from threatening the fate of the cabinet over his dispute with Premier Najib Miqati, sources close to Safadi said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday that Hizbullah has tried to appease Safadi over fears that his bickering with Miqati could spill over to the government and threaten its existence.

Ex-Premier Saad Hariri slammed efforts to adopt a parliamentary elections law based on proportionality, saying the threat of Hizbullah’s arms closes the door to democratic competition.

In an interview published in al-Mustaqbal daily on Sunday, Hariri said: “Proportionality is a means for people or political movements that do not enjoy absolute majority in a certain region to be represented in parliament based on their proportional size.”

Investigators are carrying out DNA tests on remains that could belong to Lebanese Imam Mousa al-Sadr, who mysteriously disappeared in Libya more than 33 years ago, an official at the ministry of missing persons told AFP on Saturday.

"We are testing the DNA of three separate bodies," said Esam Zregi, who heads the department for documentation and sample collections, adding that the final results would be ready in four to six weeks.

President Michel Suleiman stated on Saturday that the legislative authority has the responsibility to follow up on the people’s daily lives, as well as the manage government affairs.

He therefore stressed the need to hold a parliament session “as soon as possible” in order to tackle the $5.9 billion spending bill of the 2011 government.

A Syrian national was robbed at gunpoint Friday night in the neighborhood of Hay al-Sillum in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Abdul Kafi al-Nayef was passing through the neighborhood when five individuals in a red Range Rover forced him into their vehicle where they stole his wallet at gunpoint.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Friday that weapons will not advance the position of Shiites in Lebanon.

He said: “Arms have never advanced one sect over another in Lebanon.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hoped that the parliamentary electoral law will be approved ahead of the 2013 elections, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

He told the newspaper that he hopes that the electoral law will be approved six months ahead of the polls because logistic preparations for the elections need that much time.

Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s campaign against Prime Minister Najib Miqati is the minister’s attempt to take an independent course from his ally, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

Informed political sources told the newspaper that Safadi is trying to take a different approach on political developments in an attempt perhaps to improve his chances of assuming the premiership “should the March 8 camp decide to topple the government.”

Some 70 MPs have signed up to discuss government’s performance during a three-day parliamentary session scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

Speculation has arisen on whether the March 14-led opposition is seeking to resort to a vote of confidence over the government’s performance.

President Michel Suleiman traveled to Australia on Saturday on the first visit of its kind for a Lebanese president, reported As Safire newspaper on Saturday.

Sources told the newspaper that memorandums of understandings will be signed with the Australian government and Suleiman will also meet with prominent businessmen of Lebanese origin.