Mustaqbal MP Hadi Hbeish criticized on Thursday Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas' statements that the Mustaqbal movement is being pressured by Israel.

He told ANB television: "Such statements are treasonous and are a direct threat that would lead to future assassinations."

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams on Thursday said the United Nations was worried about tensions in Lebanon.

He made his remarks after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday reiterated Washington's support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, stressing that attempts at weakening the tribunal will not be tolerated.

Clinton said, on her behalf and on behalf of her Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit at a joint news conference in Washington, that they condemn any attempts at obstructing STL's work.

A consensus on postponing the thorny issue of "false witnesses" until after the Eid al-Adha holiday was reached during Wednesday's cabinet session, "after each side stated its point of view," Information Minister Tareq Mitri said after the session.

Mitri quoted President Michel Suleiman as saying that "there is no use of putting the issue -- of referring the false witnesses issue to the Judicial Council -- to the vote of the cabinet."

Upon his return from Damascus, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday said that his point of view intersected with that of the Syrian leadership regarding the importance of making the most of the Syrian-Saudi rapprochement "through preserving the national unity government and enabling it to face the major challenges."

In a statement issued by PSP's Media Department, Jumblat noted the need to "be alert of the continuing Western efforts to disrupt this Saudi-Syrian rapprochement by sending Western delegates to Lebanon and by adhering to the STL without the slightest regard to stability."

Representatives of 16 Arab states meeting in Doha for an Interpol general assembly have contested the validity of 33 Syrian arrest warrants mostly against Lebanese, Lebanon's police chief said Wednesday.

"I was the target of one of these arrest warrants, and I raised the issue at this meeting," Major General Ashraf Rifi, leading the Lebanese delegation in Doha, told Agence France Presse.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Wednesday attended the official hand-over ceremony of the Lebanon Megaports project to the Lebanese government.

"Sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration at the U.S. Department of Energy, the Megaports Initiative seeks to deter, detect, and interdict illicitly trafficked nuclear and radiological materials by deploying fixed, mobile and handheld detection equipment," according to a communiqué issued by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc noted on Wednesday that the media leaks over the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri confirm without a doubt that it is politicized.

It said after its weekly meeting that the politicization of the indictment is aimed at achieving Israeli interests and those of the international powers supporting its plans against Palestine, Lebanon, and the region.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Wednesday that if the other camp wanted “to threaten us with withdrawing from Cabinet if we maintained our position over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, then it may do so without resorting to bargaining over the matter.”

He said after holding talks with Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ahmed al-Bedewi: “President Michel Suleiman prefers not to resort to a vote during today’s Cabinet session.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams hoped on Wednesday that the air of camaraderie would pervade in today's Cabinet session in accordance with respecting the Doha agreement and the ministerial statement.

He also hoped after holding talks with Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami that the government would be able to ease the tensions in Lebanon.