Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Monday the United Nations to declare Lebanon as a neutral country during his visit to the U.S., As Safir newspaper reported.

The patriarch noted that he means by it “the positive neutrality, whereby (Lebanon) isn’t subordinate to any country or regional or international axes.”

The rejection of Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement to promote head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch Col. Wissam al-Hassan came upon pressure from Syria, al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc sources said.

The sources told al-Liwaa daily published Monday that Syria was frustrated at ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi’s attempt to link the disappearance of Syrian opposition members in Lebanon to the Syrian embassy.

The Parliamentary human rights committee session on Monday witnessed a heated debate over the discussion of a report written by Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi about the alleged involvement of the Syrian embassy in the disappearance of Syrian opposition members in Lebanon.

Voice of Lebanon radio reported that the voices were heard at the press room in the parliament.

Premier Najib Miqati’s sources have denied a TV report that the PM has agreed to amend the protocol of cooperation signed between the Lebanese government and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

OTV reported Sunday that Miqati has held several telephone conversations with Speaker Nabih Berri and has agreed “in principle” to introduce changes to the protocol.

A series of controversial issues are awaiting a solution by the cabinet but the death of the Saudi Crown Prince forced a postponement of a session on Tuesday, a move that came as a safe exit out for the bickering government ministers.

Informed sources told An Nahar daily on Monday that the “cracks” worsened during the last government session over the dispute between the ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and those representing Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to tackle on Monday the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri during a television interview, An Nahar reported.

Nasrallah will discuss during the interview the disputed issues among the cabinet members.

Members of the al-Muqdad family on Sunday blocked with burning tires several key roads in Beirut’s southern suburbs, “after the Internal Security Forces suppressed a construction violation in the town of Lassa in the barren mountains of Jbeil and arrested a member of the family,” state-run National News Agency reported.

A few hours later, “a joint army-ISF unit managed to reopen roads in al-Msharrafiyeh, Ghobeiri and Mar Mkhayel and the Hadi Nasrallah Highway, as civil defense crews doused the burning tires and removed them from the streets,” NNA said.

The participants in the eighth retreat of the Lady of the Mountain Gathering discussed Sunday a number of proposed, preliminary recommendations, ahead of a press conference on October 27 during which the final text would be announced.

The conferees also discussed a document titled “The Role of Christians in the Arab Spring”, during a conference held at the Regency Palace Hotel in Adma.

A document discussed Sunday by the Christian “Lady of the Mountain Gathering” rejected “any attempt to link the fate of the Christians to the fate of the oppressive and tyrannical regimes” in the region.

March 14 General-Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid said the eighth retreat of the Gathering was aimed at determining the role of the Lebanese in the Arab Spring.

A Lebanese delegation headed to Libya on Sunday to meet with National Transitional Council officials to unveil the fate of missing Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the National News Agency reported.

The delegation includes Director-General of the Ministry of the Displaced Haitham Joumaa and Judge Hassan Shami. It is expected to discuss the latest investigations undertaken by the NTC to unveil al-Sadr’s fate.