Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat announced on Monday that the party will not take part in Sunday’s March 14 rally “as we can only remain in a position that would protect the peace and Lebanon’s unity.”

He said during his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The party has never prevented the citizens from expressing their opinions but it knows that the people are responsible enough to refuse to participate in an occasion where speeches will be aimed at inciting strife, hatred, and sectarianism.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel called on Monday the March 14 supporters to participate in Sunday’s, saying: “The demonstration on March 13 is aimed at informing the East and West that the Lebanese people are always thirsty for freedom. They haven’t and won’t despair, they haven’t and won’t surrender.”

He stressed during a press conference: “We will confront the approaching coup that is demonstrated by Hizbullah’s arms … We will never let the blood of the Cedar Revolution martyrs go in vain.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams stressed on Monday the importance of dialogue in settling Lebanese disputes.

He said after holding talks with House Speaker Nabih Berri: “The Speaker and I were in full agreement that irrespective of the differences that may exist internally within Lebanon, dialogue remains the only and most important tool for the Lebanese to resolve their problems.”

U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly reiterated on Monday that the international community will assess its relationship with Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s government based on the make-up of the cabinet.

Connelly made the remark during talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, said a U.S. embassy statement.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawaf Moussawi noted on Monday that the division in Lebanon lies between those seeking to defend their country and liberate it from Israeli aggression and those allowing the United States to employ the indictment for its own interests.

He stressed: “The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is only aimed at protecting Israel’s security through targeting the Resistance.”

The foreign ministry is monitoring the evacuation process of Lebanese from Libya, announcing that 21 citizens and five Palestinians have returned to Lebanon onboard a Middle East Airlines plane arriving from Istanbul, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat Monday.

It said in a statement on Sunday that the Lebanese and other nationalities are being evacuated from Libya by ship and are being sent to ports in Turkey, Syria, and Egypt.

Joseph Torbey, head of the Association of Lebanese Banks, criticized on Monday statements that three Lebanese banks are on a U.S. Treasury list of banks suspected of conducting illegal activity.

He told LBC: “Such claims are a cheap promotion of a non-existent cause.”

In a brief lent message, Outgoing Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir urged the Lebanese on Monday to fear God and keep his commandments.

Sfeir also thanked all those who stood by his side during his service. He made his remark to Voice of Lebanon radio station.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi reiterated that Tehran backed an inter-Lebanese agreement to solve the country’s political crisis and stressed that Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s cabinet would not be one-sided.

“We support any agreement that the Lebanese achieve” among themselves, Salehi told al-Akhbar daily in an interview published Monday.

No solution was in sight for the formation of the cabinet before March 14 although Premier-designate Najib Miqati was holding consultations away from the spotlight in a bid to break the deadlock.

Miqati held talks with Central Bank governor Riad Salameh on Sunday after a meeting they held the day before on the sidelines of the ceremony in honor of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki.