UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti on Friday ruled out an imminent war between Israel and Hizbullah and said peacekeepers hadn't detected Hizbullah rearmament south of the Litani river.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon, the Voice of Freedom and Dignity, radio station, Tenenti reassured the Lebanese that "the situation in the south is very calm."

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that January will be decisive in solving the Lebanese crisis and said Premier Saad Hariri had a positive attitude on the Saudi-Syrian initiative.

Berri discussed with Hariri during a telephone conversation on Thursday efforts by Damascus and Riyadh to resolve the deadlock.

The Saudi-Syrian agreement on consolidating stability in Lebanon was finalized a long time ago, before Saudi King Abdullah traveled to New York for treatment, Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said.

However, in an interview with pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat published Friday, Hariri said "steps and answers are required from others, not from us, and anything else is an attempt to sabotage the Saudi-Syrian efforts."

Terry Anderson says he rarely recalls the anniversary of being kidnapped and held captive in Lebanon for nearly seven years, a crisis that he revisits in a new National Geographic special.

Instead, he's reminded of the date by others who call or e-mail when it rolls around.

U.S. President Barack Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy will discuss the Lebanese crisis during talks in Washington on January 10, An Nahar daily reported Thursday.

The Elysee presidential palace announced last month that Sarkozy would visit the U.S. capital to discuss the agendas of next year's G8 and G20 summits with Obama.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said it was pointless to build a state that could be damaged by war in the future, lamenting that the political situation in the country wasn't stable yet.

In an interview published in the first issue of Maraya Al Jebbe magazine, Geagea said: "The situation in Lebanon hasn't been stabilized yet and if there is no stability and we don't get a state with clear features, then builders are in vain getting tired."

Head of the General Labor Confederation Union Ghassan Ghosn warned to stage a general strike to defend what he called "people's right to eat."

He called for a mass turnout in a Union-led battle to be launched mid-January.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will continue his investigation if new information on ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's murder appears after the release of the indictment, an informed source at the U.N. told As Safir daily.

The source said in remarks published Thursday that the announcement of the indictment should be preceded by several steps including the possibility of moving witnesses outside Lebanon to guarantee their safety.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri will reportedly consider turning the tables if a solution to the crisis over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was not reached before the end of January.

Berri sources told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat in remarks published Thursday that the Speaker was seeking to fill in on lost time through revitalization of weekly parliamentary sessions.

Maronite Bishops on Wednesday condemned attacks on Christians in Iraq and Egypt, stressing that Lebanese should close ranks to ward off dangers and maintain Christian presence in the Middle East.

"These massacres necessitate various officials, political and religious, to take measures to maintain Christian presence in the Middle East and put an end to these attacks," said a statement by the Maronite Bishops at the end of their monthly meeting in Bkirki.