Turkey on Sunday criticized the Lebanese government, saying it has not voiced “a single word” to condemn the Syrian regime’s deadly crackdown on dissent.

“Has Lebanon voiced a single word to express its solidarity with our Muslim brothers who are being slaughtered? No, only Turkey has raised its voice,” Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday voiced regret over “the coma the Lebanese politicians are going through and the political practices that lead to destruction and poverty.”

In a sermon he delivered at a mass held in the Northern Metn town of Beit Mery, the patriarch noted that “the political authority is entrusted with the public money.”

Hiba Rmeid, 17, drowned on Sunday in a frozen lake in Kfardebian, reported MTV.

According to witnesses, Hiba and her brother Ahmed were practicing photography in the area when she fell through the ice on the frozen lake.

Two demonstrations were held on Sunday in front of the Russian Embassy in Beirut over Russia’s position on Syria at the United Nations Security Council, reported the National News Agency.

One demonstration, comprised of Syrian nationals, advocated the European state, while the other, organized by the Jamaa Islamiya, condemned it.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Daniel Bellemare held a “secret meeting” with the head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora during the former’s latest visit to Beirut, reported Kuwait’s An Nahar newspaper on Sunday.

High-ranking political sources told the newspaper that Bellemare was confident in the evidence he had acquired in the case of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, revealing that he will complete the second indictment in the case before the end of February.

A Syrian businessman, who was kidnapped in the Bekaa on Wednesday, has been released on Sunday, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Mohammed Ghayyath al-Jabi was released on the Riyaq-Baalbeck road after a ransom was paid to the kidnappers.

Lebanon must not hesitate in supporting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, because backing it has major “strategic and fateful” repercussions, sources close to Hizbullah told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper in remarks published on Sunday.

They said: “Hizbullah will not allow the fall of the Assad regime even if it means launching a war with Israel.”

The current government deadlock is likely to stretch indefinitely given that a mechanism to restore cabinet productivity, as Premier Najib Miqati had demanded, will probably take a while, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

Ministerial circles noted however that the ongoing tensions between Miqati and the Free Patriotic Movement may be eased through the intervention of the FPM’s ally Hizbullah.

A member of the Syrian National Council is likely to participate in the February 14 ceremony marking the seventh anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday.

It explained that the presence of a member of the council will demonstrate the March 14 camp’s support for the Syrian revolution.

Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet launched efforts to end the political deadlock in Lebanon, however the recent meeting between his envoy Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi may be the beginning of such efforts, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday.

It also pointed out to the rapprochement between the Mustaqbal Movement and Berri’s AMAL party, adding that direct talks between the two sides will be held after the February 14 ceremony marking the anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.