Speaker Nabih Berri lamented that the March 8 forces were no longer finding excuses to justify the deadlock in the government formation, said pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Berri reportedly told his visitors that he did not understand the reasons that were delaying the formation of the new cabinet. They quoted the speaker as saying “we can no longer find excuses … particularly that we form a single team and are united in our choices.”

The meeting that will bring together Lebanon’s top Christian leaders in Bkirki next week does not have an agenda but would be followed by other meetings that could expand to include more officials, sources from the seat of the Maronite church said.

“There won’t be any agenda … because the meeting is considered an achievement and will be followed by other meetings that include more Christian” officials, the sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Saturday.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati continued his consultations to break the impasse over the new government makeup after urging the leaders of the main parties to facilitate the formation of his cabinet.

Miqati held talks with the Hizbullah leader’s aide, Hussein Khalil, twice on Friday. He also met twice with the speaker’s assistant, MP Ali Hassan Khalil.

A security source from the Northern Israeli command warned 150 villages in southern Lebanon that the Jewish state would destroy “every house or building from where missiles are launched.”

Israel has evidence that Hizbullah is continuing to prepare for war, the official said.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Jamal al-Jarrah said he would meet with Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday to inform him that he should be “punished” if the Syrian accusations against him turned out to be right.

“The reputation of the parliament and consequently the reputation of one of the lawmakers and his constitutional and legal rights are being raised,” al-Jarrah told An Nahar daily.

The March 14 General-Secretariat has reportedly urged U.S. Ambassador Maura Connelly to preserve Lebanon’s stability after the latest Syrian accusations of al-Mustaqbal movement’s involvement in funding a terrorist cell in Syria.

Connelly visited Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and March 14 General-Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid on Friday.

The March 14 general-secretariat on Friday responded to "accusations" against the coalition of "being involved in the events in Syria."

"From the onset of the popular protests in Syria, pro-Hizbullah figures and media outlets" as well as partisans of the Syrian regime "have been fabricating lies aimed at accusing some March 14 forces of meddling in the events in Syria," the general-secretariat said in a statement.

The press office of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Friday responded to “the escalating and coordinated campaign against the Mustaqbal Movement and some of its MPs.”

“The Syrian ambassador to Lebanon knows very well that the Lebanese and Syrian states have a judicial agreement that regulates the judicial relation between the two countries,” the press office said in a statement.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun called on Friday Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati to take his time in the government formation process, saying that he should not be given any deadlines in this issue.

The MP made his statements in response to Miqati’s announcement from Baabda on Thursday that he will be giving himself more time in the government formation.

Iran has smuggled more weapons to Hizbullah, Syria, and Palestinian groups in recent months, taking advantage of the wave of unrest in the Middle East, reported the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Friday.

Because international attention is focused mainly on regime changes and local intelligence services are busy protecting their rulers, the Iranians have been able to act with greater impunity, it said