Estonia has pressured the European Union to hold off sanctioning Syrian President Bashar Assad “to protect” seven Estonian tourists who were kidnapped in eastern Lebanon in March, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The newspaper said that Estonia pressured its European partners over fears on the safety of the seven men who were last seen on March 23, when they went missing in the Bekaa Valley after entering Lebanon from Syria on a cycling trip.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora demanded on Friday that the United States maintain its support to the Lebanese army by continuing on providing it with proper equipment.

He made his statements before a number of American officials at the end of his trip to the U.S.

The Higher Islamic Legal Council questioned on Saturday the ongoing governmental vacuum in Lebanon, attributing it to the accumulation of “contradictory demands and conditions that violate national consensus and the constitution.”

It called in a statement, after a meeting headed by Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani, for “committing to national principles that the Lebanese asserted in the Taif Accord.”

The Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that a delegation from the interior and justice ministries visited Roumieh prison in order to listen to the demands of inmates who had gone on hunger strike on Friday.

It said in a statement: “These demands included issuing a general pardon, speeding up trials, tackling prison overcrowding, improving the quality of food, and increasing the number of doctors at the jail.”

Speaker Nabih Berri’s adviser MP Ali Hassan Khalil said on Saturday that people’s trust in a state capable of tackling their interests should be restored.

“We demand the formation of a real salvation government… capable of holding national dialogue and setting a political agenda that reconnects the diverse national elements,” he added.

Lebanon may be faced with a number of challenges in the government formation process given the unrest in Syria, reported the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper.

Widely informed sources said that Hizbullah and Syrian want the formation of a government that belongs to the pre-Arab revolts era, which is being faced with opposition in some sides in Lebanon.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams hoped on Saturday that the new Lebanese government would be formed within days in order to protect the people, given the changes and unrest in the Middle East.

He said after holding talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea that the Lebanese officials should exert efforts to provide the necessary atmosphere to form a new Cabinet.

Lebanese authorities have adopted strict measures in the Bekaa region in order to confront the possible smuggling of weapons to Syria, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Saturday.

Concerned security sources said that owners of arms stores in the Bekaa have received direct orders from the intelligence directorate in the Lebanese army against selling arms to any individual without checking that they are Lebanese.

Bkirki is scheduled to hold an Islamic-Christian spiritual summit on Thursday, the first of its kind since the election of Beshara al-Rahi as patriarch of the Maronite church, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

The governmental crisis in Lebanon and the turbulent situation in the region are set to be the main issues of discussion at the meeting, it added.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon remains convinced that the disarmament of armed groups in Lebanon, in particular Hizbullah, can best be achieved through a political process, a U.N. spokesman said.

"He calls on Lebanese leaders to reconvene the national dialogue under the auspices of President Michel Suleiman," the spokesman Farhan Haq said.