President Michel Suleiman is expected to tackle the national defense strategy at a national dialogue session on Thursday, media reports said.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday that Suleiman will discuss with Lebanese foes the matter after conferees at the last national dialogue session, held at Beiteddine palace on August 16, decided to postpone discussing it due to the absence of several members, in particular, Speaker Nabih Berri.

The army is set to continue destroying cannabis fields in northern Bekaa despite the objection of the residents, who deem them as their only source to earn a decent living, An Nahar newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the daily, the destruction operations will proceed on Tuesday as the angered residents are reportedly seeking to hold a sit-in to criticize the silence of Hizbullah's chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah over the matter.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour announced on Sunday that he was exerting efforts to call for an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers to denounce an anti-Islam film that has sparked fury across the Islamic world.

The minister's press office said that as chairman of the Arab League Ministerial Council, Mansour contacted Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi urging him to make the necessary contacts to hold the emergency meeting at the League’s headquarters in Cairo to discuss the film that is an “aggression on the belief of more than 1.5 billion Muslims in the world.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah slammed on Sunday the film that mocks Islam that sparked outrage throughout the Muslim world, announcing a series of rallies that will be held in various regions in Lebanon throughout the week.

He said during a televised speech: “Lebanon through its example of coexistence can pressure world powers to issue international laws that incriminate the insulting of religions.”

Pope Benedict XVI took leave of Lebanon on Sunday urging its people, Christian and Muslim, to reject anything that might divide them and to choose brotherhood.

"I pray to God for Lebanon, that she may live in peace and courageously resist all that could destroy or undermine that peace," he said at the close of a three-day visit to a country with 18 officially recognized faith communities.

President Michel Suleiman noted on Sunday that there can be no development without peace and justice.

He said: “There is a need to commit to the Apostolic Exhortation in order for Lebanon to remain the country of dialogue and openness.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon pleased Muslims and Christians.

He told LBCI television: “We hope Christians would unite over the Apostolic Exhortation.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi noted on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI visited Lebanon at a time when the Middle East is witnessing “radical changes that are threatening its stability and security.”

He said: “The spiritual Christian spring will pave the way for the desired Arab Spring in the Middle East.”

The commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, are present in Lebanon and Syria but only to provide "counsel."

"A number of Quds Force members are present in Lebanon and Syria... we provide (these countries) with counsel and advice, and transfer experience to them," Guards commander Brigadier General Mohammed Ali Jaafari told a rare press conference.

Pope Benedict XVI prayed on Sunday that Middle East leaders work toward peace and reconciliation, stressing again the central theme of his visit to Lebanon, whose neighbor Syria is engulfed in a civil war.

"May God grant to your country, to Syria and to the Middle East the gift of peaceful hearts, the silencing of weapons and the cessation of all violence," the pope said at the end of mass on the final day of his trip to Lebanon, which was attended by President Michel Suleiman and a number of other officials.