The cabinet on Wednesday postponed the discussion of a report prepared by a Lebanese delegation that visited France to learn about the mechanism used there to intercept phone calls, while tasking a panel with studying the creation of an independent national commission for the forcibly disappeared persons.

The panel is headed by Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and comprises State Minister Ali Qansou, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour and Labor Minister Salim Jreissati, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq told reporters after the cabinet session.

A Hizbullah commander and several fighters have been killed inside Syria, a Lebanese security official told the Associated Press on Tuesday, a development that could stoke already soaring tensions over an alleged role for the Lebanese group in the civil war next door.

Hizbullah has stood by Syrian President Bashar Assad since the uprising began 18 months ago, even after the group supported revolts in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Bahrain. The group says it is backing the Syrian regime because of its support for the anti-Israel resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine and because it is willing to implement political reforms.

A journalist working for several major international media publications was tortured for almost a month by Lebanese security forces, a media rights watchdog said on Tuesday.

Rami Aysha was arrested on August 30 and released on bail on September 27, after being held on unclear charges centered on alleged weapons-buying, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Tuesday called for a general strike and demonstrations to be staged on October 10 over what it called “the government's procrastination” and “the onslaught of the Economic Committees,” stressing that it will not stand idly by as the government delays referring the new wage scale to parliament.

On September 6, the cabinet approved the new wage scale with a hike in taxes on real estate and banking transactions, without reaching a final agreement on funding sources.

The Phalange Party on Tuesday called on the Christian parties to agree on an electoral law for the 2013 parliamentary polls that would guarantee “proper Christian representation.”

In a statement issued after its political bureau's weekly meeting, the party urged “the Christian leaders and lawmakers in particular to agree on what guarantees proper Christian representation."

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc pushed on Tuesday for the adoption of an electoral law based on small districts, as it “takes into consideration the fears of a great segment of the Lebanese society that is calling for a just representation”.

In a statement delivered by MP Kazem al-Kheir after the bloc's weekly meeting, al-Mustaqbal MPs described the draft law proposed by the government as one-dimensional, driven by a plan to serve Hizbullah's interests and maintain the party's domination over the legal authority in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said that preventing him from entering the Our Lady of Elige Church in Maifouq on Sunday was a breach of the Lebanese National Charter by "those who are claiming to be Christian," noting that the FPM does not mind that the Orthodox Gathering electoral law be put to a vote during the meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committees.

"I regret that the ownership of the Our Lady of Elige Church has shifted to the Lebanese Forces, but I'd like to say that the Constitution guarantees freedom of movement in any region and no politician can prevent anyone from enjoying that privilege," Aoun told reporters sardonically after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that he is holding on to the electoral draft law referred by his cabinet to the parliament, saying that any proposal that contradicts the Taef accord is rejected.

“If there is any defection in the distribution of districts in our draft law then the parliament can amend them,” Miqati told reporters after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held talks on Tuesday with Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Roknabadi on the latest developments at the regional and international levels, in addition to bilateral agreements signed between Lebanon and Iran.

After the meeting at the Grand Serail, Abadi said: “The PM and I discussed the developments at the regional and international levels, mainly focusing on bilateral relations between the two countries.”

A man, who was detained on charges of abusing drugs, quarreled with security guards at the Justice Palace in Baabda after he threatened to escape, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Mohammed Shokr wounded on Monday night one of the guards using a metal blade and set mattresses in his cell on fire.