Lebanon on Tuesday recognized Libya’s rebel National Transitional Council, which has almost taken full control of Libya and ended the 42-year reign of strongman Moammar Gadhafi, acting information minister Wael Abu Faour said after a cabinet meeting.

Briefing reporters after cabinet’s session in Beiteddine, Abu Faour said the government also decided to task Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour with discussing the case of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his companions with the leaders of Libya’s new government.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged on Tuesday Libya to resolve the mystery of the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his companions, said the LF media department in a statement.

It added: “An issue of this gravity cannot but be a priority for us and the liberated Libyan people.”

British oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy said Tuesday it was seeking new exploration opportunities in Lebanon and possibly elsewhere in the Middle East after the company announced a return to profit.

The Edinburgh-based company, in the process of selling most of its Indian unit to miner Vedanta Resources, said it was heading a consortium seeking to take part in an expected round of bidding for exploration licenses in Lebanon.

Following on Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s rulings on connectivity and deferral, the Office of the Prosecutor looks forward to receiving the relevant files from the Lebanese authorities in relation to the attacks against former ministers Marwan Hamadeh and Elias al-Murr and assassination of former Lebanese Communist Party leader Georges Hawi, said the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in a statement.

“The Pre-Trial Judge’s decisions mark a new chapter in the Office of the Prosecutor’s work,” it stated.

The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad slammed on Tuesday the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as “fake”, accusing the investigation of being politicized in order to target the Resistance.

He said in a press conference to refute the indictment: “The Resistance will determine the way it will defend itself from the indictment and tribunal.”

The Lebanese towns and villages in the Bekaa and the North abutting the Syrian border have decided to escalate demonstrations in support of the Syrian people during the last days of Ramadan, the pan-Arab daily Asharq al- reported on Tuesday.

Islamic sources told the newspaper that the clergymen, Imam’s of the mosques and Islamic associations “agreed on triggering daily night protests after al-Taraweeh prayers in all the regions of Tripoli, and in a number of towns in Akkar.”

Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil warned that the cabinet will be tested on Tuesday concerning the adoption of the electricity draft law or it will have to face failure in its first assessment.

“The cabinet either adopts this vital issue that benefits all the Lebanese people and not just a certain part, and therefor achieves an accomplishment for the whole government parties… or it falls under failure from the beginning,” Bassil told As Safir newspaper.

TIME magazine correspondent Nicholas Blanford has expressed readiness to appear as a witness before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon if the court asks him to do so.

Blanford met with General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza at the Justice Palace on Monday in the presence of his lawyer despite his insistence that he did not know who carried out an interview with a suspect wanted in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination case.

Hizbullah on Monday hailed the "huge victory" of rebels who took control of most of the Libyan capital in their fight against Moammar Gadhafi's rule.

"Hizbullah congratulates the Libyan people and their revolutionaries for this huge victory against the tyrant (Gadhafi) after a long struggle and great sacrifice," Hizbullah said in a statement.

A ministerial meeting held Monday failed to reach a final agreement on an electricity plan suggested by Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil, under which $1.2 billion would be earmarked to buy 700 Megawatts of electricity.

“The four-phase plan, which will cost the state $5 billion, should be flawless legally and administratively in order to gain approval,” ministerial sources told LBC television.