Syrian President Bashar Assad requested from Energy Minister Jebran Bassil to allow Russian companies to handle drilling for oil and gas discovered in the Mediterranean Sea adjacent to Lebanon’s coast, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It said that Assad made his request when he held talks with the Lebanese minister in Damascus on Monday.

Revealing the names of the suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is part of a routine procedure aimed at exhausting all methods to inform the public about suspects, explained legal sources to the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Sunday.

This way, the public is given the opportunity to report any sighting of the suspects, they added.

The head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated that the bloc supports national dialogue, but on condition that it have a purpose and be able to achieve its goals.

He told An Nahar daily in remarks published on Sunday: “This matter calls for restricting the talks to addressing Hizbullah’s possession of arms according to the dialogue that was held in March 2006.”

The blast that took place in the Rouwais area in Beirut’s southern suburbs was targeting former detainee in Israeli jail, Samir al-Qontar, revealed the daily An Nahar on Sunday from official security information.

It noted that the blast, which Hizbullah’s media department said was caused by the explosion of a gas canister, erupted in the neighborhood where the former prisoner lives.

Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux stated that nothing is off limits in defending suspects in the trial of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying that their lawyers can bring up any matter related to the case, especially regarding the legitimacy of the court and the prosecutor’s evidence.

He noted however to the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper in remarks published on Sunday that the transparency of the court should not be questioned at the moment because it hasn’t conducted its judicial work yet.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour criticized on Saturday claims of the widespread possession of arms in Lebanon, adding that “there are no weapons in Beirut’s southern suburbs.”

He said: “When we speak of weapons possession, it is as if we are saying that cities in Lebanon are filled to the brim with them.”

Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani declared Monday as the first day of Ramadan, the National News Agency reported.

Qabbani said on Saturday: “The new moon cannot be spotted anywhere tonight, therefore, Sunday is the last day of Shaaban (the pre-Ramadan month in Islam's lunar calendar) and Monday August 1 is the first day of Ramadan.”

Hizbullah denied on Saturday reports about casualties taking place in a gas canister explosion in the Rouwais neighborhood of Beirut’s southern suburbs a day earlier.

“No one was injured in the blast, but only material damage was incurred,” Hizbullah’s media relations department said in a statement.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Saturday that the cabinet will meet all the needs of the army according to the plan that its “wise” leadership established, the National News Agency reported.

“The government will protect the army along with all the security institutions from any interference,” Miqati said in the Order of the Day issued on the 66th anniversary of Army Day on August 1.

Austria said Saturday it could send peacekeeping troops to Lebanon by the end of the year, as part of the UNIFIL mission here, following a request by New York.

"The (Austrian) army has built up expertise and experience in the region. A second pillar in the Middle East, on top of the Golan mission, is definitely conceivable," Defense Minister Norbert Darabos said in a statement.