The owners of old rent law buildings staged a sit-in on Wednesday in Beirut's Mathaf area in protest against President Michel Suleiman's appeal against the draft-law.

The owners slammed his action, comparing him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman judge who ordered the execution of Jesus Christ.

The General Security announced on Wednesday that Palestinians who have fled Syria to Lebanon should file their personal documents within a month.

It said that the papers should be filed at General Security stations starting Thursday.

The army announced on Wednesday that it arrested over the past three days a number of Syrians in the eastern Bekaa region of Arsal for illegally entering Lebanon.

It said that 18 Syrians were arrested at Arsal checkpoints for entering the country with fake Lebanese General Security documents.

Newly-appointed Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Fathali held talks on Wednesday with Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil at the Bustros Palace soon after he landed in Beirut.

Fathali presented to Bassil his credentials, who will in turn hand them over to the President.

Maronite institutions warned on Wednesday lawmakers against the failure to elect a new president and the consequent vacuum in the country's top post.

They said: “Obstructing presidential elections sessions violates the constitution and the national pact.”

Speaker Nabih Berri said Thursday's parliamentary session to elect a new head of state will be open-ended until the expiry of President Michel Suleiman's term on May 25.

“The session will be open-ended until there is quorum,” Berri told lawmakers after he adjourned a legislative session on Wednesday aimed at discussing a plea made by Suleiman to resolve the presidential deadlock.

The Israeli army kicked off a project to rehabilitate roads near the barbed wire along the border with southern Lebanon.

According to the state-run National News Agency, rail road excavators and bulldozers accompanied by 3 armored vehicles and around 20 soldiers began at 9:00 am paving roads adjacent to the southern towns of Adaisseh and Kfarkila.

Three suspects handed themselves over to the army intelligence in the northern city of Tripoli, the military command said in a communique on Wednesday.

It identified the suspects as Talal Mustafa al-Issa, Khaled Jamal al-Rahi and Mahmoud Mustafa al-Hallaq.

A cabinet session scheduled for Thursday will be held at the Grand Serail instead of Baabda Palace to discuss 100 items placed on the agenda, An Nahar newspaper reported.

The daily quoted a cabinet minister as saying on Wednesday “it seems the president wants PM (Tammam) Salam to practice the management of the sessions.”

The country has entered the stage of vacuum at the helm of the country's top Christian post after the political arch-foes failed so far to agree on a consensual candidate as reports said that the post is expected to remain vacant for several months.

Sources told An Nahar newspaper published on Wednesday that vacuum will not “last long” due to the international pressure exerted on the political parties.