Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday called for “differentiating between those who collaborated with the Israeli enemy and those who had to flee” to the Jewish state following the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

Talking to reporters at the Beirut airport upon his return from a 2-day visit to Iraq, al-Rahi described his trip as “successful.”

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday Syria’s ongoing violations of Lebanon’s border in the East and West and its abduction and persecution of individuals in the country.

It said after weekly meeting: “We hold the Syrian regime, Hizbullah, and official security authorities responsible for the complete violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty by Syria.”

The Philippines said Wednesday it had banned Filipinos from travelling to work in 41 countries and territories, including Lebanon, that had allegedly failed to provide enough safeguards to protect them from abuse.

The Department of Labor and Employment in a board resolution posted on its website said the blacklisted countries failed to sign international conventions protecting foreign workers.

Wael Abbas, the suspected ringleader in the abduction of the seven Estonian cyclists, has been arrested, reported the National News Agency on Wednesday.

He was arrested by Syrian security forces as he was attempting to escape to the country through a false ID, it added.

Hizbullah has congratulated the Palestinians on winning UNESCO membership, slamming the United States as "racist" over its decision to vote against the move.

"Hizbullah congratulates the Palestinian people on gaining full UNESCO membership, which is their natural right," the Shiite group said.

A strong support by Hizbullah, Amal and Free Patriotic Movement ministers to an electoral draft law based on a system of proportional representation will likely lead to major clashes between them and the Progressive Socialist Party which prefers the winner-takes-all system.

During a cabinet session chaired by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace on Tuesday, the ministers representing Hizbullah, Amal and the FPM expressed their backing to the draft law proposed by Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

The cabinet approved “in principle” a proposal by the Change and Reform bloc to separate the parliamentary seat from a ministerial post, which requires amending article 28 of the constitution.

President Michel Suleiman is expected to carry out his constitutional right and amend article 28 in order to prevent MPs from occupying a ministerial post, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

U.S. Congressman Steve Chabot has expressed dismay at the alleged kidnapping of Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon and condemned the infiltrations of Syrian troops into Lebanese territories.

“I am appalled by reports of the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents in Lebanon by agents and allies of the Syrian regime,” Chabot said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government to pay Lebanon’s 49% annual share of funds to the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon “as soon as possible” and urged it to address the issue “in a serious manner and away from vague stances.”

“What the camp bolstered by the hegemony of weapons does not comprehend is that the issue is related to a national and ethical cause and to the reputation of the Lebanese state and institutions,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Tuesday that peace would be achieved in Iraq, voicing Lebanon’s solidarity with the Iraqi people.

He said after holding talks in Iraq with its Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi and Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan: “We look forward to collaborating with our Muslim brothers throughout the Islamic world to reject violence, intolerance, and mistrust.”