Syrian rebel commanders have confirmed insurgents had fired shells into Hermel towns on Saturday and Sunday, but denied there were any attacks on Monday.
"Yesterday (Sunday), Hizbullah bombarded Qusayr, Nahriyeh, Burhaniyeh and Saqarji (near the Lebanese border) from its positions in al-Qasr and Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali. They bombed civilians and killed many women and children," said Abu Oday, a commander of the rebel Independent Farouq Division.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel warned on Monday that Lebanon can no longer support the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
He said during a press conference after the party's weekly politburo meeting: “The refugees have become a threat to the country's national fabric.”

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly welcomed on Monday the appointment of Tammam Salam as prime minister-designate, while condemning the recent violations along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
He said: “The Security Council has now on several occasions, reiterated the importance of respect for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and the need for all concerned to respect Lebanon’s policy of dissociation and the Baabda Declaration,” he stressed.

Arrest warrant have been issued against a number of suspects linked to the recent unrest in the Shouf area of Ain Zhalta on April 6.
Military Examining Magistrate Imad al-Zein issued arrest warrants against 14 suspects on charges of smuggling arms and the attempted murder of soldiers who were deployed in the region.

Two more rockets fired from Syria landed on a border town in the Bekaa valley on Monday, prompting President Michel Suleiman to call for a security meeting which sought Arab League assistance in helping Lebanon confront the attacks.
“The safety of any Lebanese citizen is the sole responsibility of the Lebanese state … and any attack on Lebanon no matter from which side it came is rejected,” Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said in a statement he read after the security meeting was held at Baabda palace.

The owners of trucks transporting building material briefly blocked the Akkar-Tripoli road on Monday to protest measures taken by security forces to prevent the illegal delivery of goods to the area, the state-run National News Agency reported.
NNA said the protesters blocked the road near al-Bayader Bakery after Akkar's police station prevented the trucks transporting cement and steel bars lacking the appropriate legal documents to enter the area in an attempt to curb the rise in illegal buildings.

President Michel Suleiman has tasked former minister Khalil Hrawi to launch a new round of talks with the leaderships of the major political parties in an attempt to reach consensus on a new vote law.
Hrawi told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that he will seek to bring the converging viewpoints of the leaders closer on a hybrid proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Sir David Baragwanath held separate talks on Monday with President Michel Suleiman and caretaker PM Najib Miqati.
According to informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the visit comes hand in hand with the preparations to launch the work of the tribunal and with the media leaks that have threatened the witnesses in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case in a bid to scare them off.

A decision by the National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat to challenge the suspension of deadlines applicable under the 1960 electoral law has received the “tacit approval” of President Michel Suleiman and al-Mustaqbal bloc chief Fouad Saniora, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.
The Front's intention to challenge before the constitutional council parliament's endorsement of a draft-law that suspended the deadlines until May 19 was revealed by caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is a member of Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has reportedly proposed to President Michel Suleiman a 14-member cabinet that was strongly criticized by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat for being a “civil war plan.”
Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources as saying that Salam made the proposal during a meeting they held at Baabda palace last week. But when the president informed Jumblat about it, the PSP chief replied: “This is a civil war plan.”
