UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Paolo Serra said on Monday that the peacekeepers were able to successfully achieve some key mandated objectives but stressed challenges remain.

“In the period ahead, my focus will be to assist the parties to maintain and solidify the cessation of hostilities and respect (Security Council) resolution 1701,” Serra said at a ceremony at the mission headquarters in Naqoura to observe the 34th anniversary of the peacekeepers’ presence in southern Lebanon.

Beirut Examining Magistrate Ghassan Owaidat postponed on Monday the interrogation of Samih al-Natour, who is accused along with his brother of processing and selling spoiled meat and other food products, as well as the attempted murders of the consumers to whom they knowingly sold the food, reported the National News Agency.

The interrogation has been postponed to March 29 after Natour’s lawyer Malek Mneiemneh presented Owaidat with a memorandum.

The Israeli forces have not set a definite date to construct a concrete wall along the Blue Line adjacent to the southern town of Kfarkila, despite their strong presence in the area, the An Nahar daily said Monday.

Logistical reasons could be delaying the construction of the wall, sources following up on the issue said, and pointed out that the process could kick off by the end of March following Earth Day celebrations.

Sidon’s Examining Magistrate Mounif Barakat demanded the death penalty for the Syrian who stabbed a Lebanese man in the southern port city, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

According to the agency, Barakat called in his indictment for the death penalty against Nasser Mohammed Hassan al-Fares, 22, for stabbing to death money exchange shop owner Mohammed al-Natout, 66, and stealing $5,000 from him on February 29.

Israeli Army officers believe that Syria has been arming and training Hizbullah fighters in the use of advanced antiaircraft weapons in recent months, which would increase the potential of escalation in Lebanon, the Haaretz daily reported.

"The potential of escalation in Lebanon is huge, and Hizbullah continues to strengthen with regard to long-range weaponry and potential 'surprises' on the battlefield," a senior Israeli officer in the Northern Command said.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that escalation will not benefit any side in Lebanon as tranquility is the only way to resolve disputes and maintain stability.

“It’s the same old rhetoric, escalation will not benefit anyone, and calm is the only way to resolve the issues,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

Lebanese Forces MPs are mulling to boycott a meeting of Christian lawmakers in Bkirki next month over their dispute with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on his stance from the Syrian revolution, sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday.

But the Phalange party, which is their ally in the March 14 opposition coalition, believes that there is no excuse for not attending the April 3 meeting, the sources said.

A top U.S. Department of the Treasury official is expected to urge Lebanon on Tuesday to abide by the U.S. and European Union sanctions imposed on Syria, Lebanese dailies said.

An Nahar newspaper quoted political sources as saying that Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David Cohen will urge Central Bank Governor Riyad Salameh and other high-ranking officials to prevent Lebanese banks from offering any support that would help the Assad regime escape the sanctions.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati will chair on Monday a meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with finding a solution to Lebanon's prolonged electricity crisis at the Grand Serail, local newspapers reported.

“The committee will discuss the technical reports by experts concerning the two companies (a Turkish and an American) that won tenders” to provide Lebanon with electricity through power-generating vessels, Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury told al-Akhbar newspaper.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath will arrive in Lebanon on April 1, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Monday.

“Baragwanath has informed the Lebanese authorities about his expected visit in an official letter sent to Lebanon’s embassy” in the Netherlands, sources told the daily.