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Sources: March 14 Conditions Came over Syrian Attempts to Ignite Strife

The request of the March 14 forces for the formation of a neutral salvation government during a conference held on Thursday came after three weeks of preparations when the opposition discovered that the Syrian regime is preparing to ignite tension in Lebanon, high-ranking March 14 sources said Friday.

“The preparation for the meeting began around three weeks ago when it became clear that the Syrian regime had decided that the decision of steering Lebanon clear (of the crisis in Syria) was over and that this regime was preparing something for Lebanon,” sources told An Nahar daily.

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Miqati Says Ready to Resign if there’s Political Consensus

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said on Friday that the price of his resignation would be consensus among Lebanese on the dialogue table.

“I am ready to do whatever (the officials) agree on during the dialogue,” Miqati told al-Liwaa newspaper.

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Top Lebanese Officials Unite against Opposition in its Dialogue Conditions

Top Lebanese officials rejected conditions set by the March 14 opposition for the resumption of dialogue, saying the March 14 coalition should participate in the all-party talks without providing any excuses.

“Before calling for (the formation of) a neutral cabinet, let it first participate in the dialogue,” Speaker Nabih Berri’s visitors quoted him as saying.

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Berri Urges Iran, Iraq to Limit Pilgrims’ Visits to Air Flights

Speaker Nabih Berri urged Iraq and Iran to limit the visits for Lebanese Shiites pilgrims to the holy sites in those two countries to flights by air.

An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday that the speaker contacted Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Omar al-Barzanji and Iranian Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi to demand them to halt all visits by land.

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Suleiman Says to Call for Mid-June National Dialogue, Urges March 14 to Heed Call without Preconditions

President Michel Suleiman on Thursday announced that he will call for a national dialogue conference to be held in the second week of June, urging the March 14 forces to heed his call without linking it to the issue of forming a new government.

“Of course I will call for dialogue and I have already voiced several calls and informed the leaders of the topics: the defense strategy concerning when and how the Resistance's arms must be used; the implementation of the previous resolutions as to removing Palestinian arms outside camps and organizing them inside camps; and the removal of weapons from Lebanese cities and towns,” said Suleiman in an interview on LBC.

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March 14: For a Neutral, Salvation Govt. that would Launch Dialogue on All Illegal Arms

The March 14 forces on Thursday called for forming a “neutral, salvation government,” revealing that they will “very soon submit an initiative” to President Michel Suleiman that is “aimed at confronting the attempt to ruin Lebanon.”

“The Syrian regime wants to destroy the temple over everyone's heads and it is depicting Lebanon as an incubator of terrorism,” said a statement recited by former premier Fouad Saniora following an emergency meeting for the March 14 forces at the Center House in downtown Beirut.

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Al-Rahi: I Do Not Support Calls for Government’s Resignation

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi voiced on Thursday his support for the various calls for holding dialogue in Lebanon away from the threat of arms.

He said: “I do not support calls for the resignation of the government.”

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Deep-seated Fear of Unrest Haunts Lebanese

Fed by the 14-month crisis in neighboring Syria and rumors of renewed civil unrest, turbulence across Lebanon is stoking fears the situation in the country may take a turn for the worse.

On Wednesday night, a gunbattle broke out in the Caracas district of west Beirut, followed by a clash that lasted several hours and left two dead, according to security officials.

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Free Syrian Army Says Working to Locate Abducted Lebanese

The rebel Free Syrian Army said on Thursday it is making "every effort" to locate and release a group of Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped in Syria's northern province of Aleppo.

"The leadership is making every effort to find out where the abductees are, and to make sure they are freed," FSA official spokesman Colonel Qassem Saadeddine said in a statement.

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Video Shows Sid al-Bauchrieh Murder of Elie Numan

A video was released on Thursday showing the murder of Elie Numan who was killed in Sid al-Bauchrieh on Wednesday.

Numan, his brother Bernard, and a Syrian worker Tony Nehme were the victims of a shooting on Wednesday afternoon.

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