Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam said Monday that there was still no progress in the formation of a new government and that a decision to step down was one of the available options.

“There is still no progress in the cabinet formation but this will not stop me” from exerting further efforts, Salam said following talks with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim “secretly” traveled to the neighboring country Syria last week and held talks with senior officials over the case of the Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria’s Aazaz region, a report said on Monday.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Ibrahim received “encouraging” answers that might help in the “complicated” negotiations with the kidnappers over the matter.

In a bid to solve the deadlock of lining up a new cabinet, PM-designate Tammam Salam aims to kick off a series of consultations with political parties and has therefore met on Sunday at his residence in Musaitbeh with outgoing minister Wael Abu Faour, As-Safir daily reported Monday.

“This week will carry several new atmospheres and formulas regarding the cabinet formation” the newspaper quoted Abu Faour as saying.

Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati held talks on Monday with Energy Minister Jebran Bassil who warned last week that Israel's discovery of a new offshore gas field near Lebanese territorial waters means the Jewish state could siphon some of Lebanon's crude oil.

“Oil and gas exploration are a priority because we are keen on preserving our natural resources,” Miqati said in remarks published in As Safir newspaper.

The French government decided to provide the Lebanese army with heavy weapons to boost its military performance, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has tasked Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly to inform Lebanese officials about his deep concern over a possible vacuum in the army leadership, American and European diplomats said.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Monday that Ban is “extremely concerned” that a vacuum in the army commander's post would have security and political repercussions on the role of U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

Speaker Nabih Berri is holding onto his right to call for a parliamentary session and to the agenda that was set by the parliament's bureau, saying there is no “compromise when its related to the constitution.”

“The AMAL movement already objects 15 articles included on the agenda of the session,” Berri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Monday.

Popular Nasserite Organization chief ex-MP Osama Saad on Sunday said that the meeting held by the March 14 forces in Sidon earlier in the day was aimed at “inciting against the military institution,” saying March 14 had not criticized the practices of Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the past, prior to his ouster from the city through a military operation.

Saad described as “beautiful words” the content of the meeting's closing statement regarding “coexistence, civil peace, human dignity, the rejection of extremism and the just state.”

A shooting broke out on Sunday near the residence of caretaker Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan in Baalbek reportedly over family disputes that the Hizbullah minister has nothing to do with.

“A dispute between the head of al-Khodor Municipality and members of the Hajj Hasan family erupted into gunfire on the public road in the Baalbek area of Hawsh al-Nabi, where the residence of Agriculture Minister Hussein Hajj Hasan is located,” MTV said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday criticized politicians for covering up the crimes committed by the force of arms, and for deepening divisions among the Lebanese.

During his sermon in his summer seat of Diman, al-Rahi said: “The political acts that cause and worsen differences and divisions are unacceptable.”