Middle East Airlines Chairman Mohammed al-Hout held talks on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri during which he informed him on the company’s situation in light of the country’s political circumstances, as well as the efforts to evacuate Lebanese expatriates from the Ivory Coast.

“Improvement on the internal scene in Lebanon will positively affect the tourism sector,” Hout said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri discussed with the Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Assiri the latest developments and bilateral ties.

Hariri met Assiri late on Friday at the Center House, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Canada is granting an additional 1 million dollars to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, announced Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Saturday.

The total of Canadian contributions to the STL reached 3.7 million dollars, the daily remarked.

The wave of optimism surrounding the formation of the Lebanese government has diminished after Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun renewed his demands over the distribution of portfolios.

The pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Saturday that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh’s recent visits to Syria where they met Syrian President Bashar Assad presented a “strong push towards forming the government.”

A ceremony to inaugurate Beshara al-Rahi as the 77th patriarch of the Maronite church was held Friday in Bkriki, in the presence of the country's top leaders and Arab and Western envoys.

President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker premier Saad Hariri and Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati participated in the ceremony.

Lebanon, which for nearly 30 years endured Syria's military and political hegemony, is closely eyeing developments in Damascus which will undoubtedly have ramifications on the local scene, analysts say.

"Any change in Syria will have a huge impact on the balance of power in Lebanon," said political analyst Raghid al-Solh, an expert on the Arab world.

A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday revealed that then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman had presented the American administration with a list of suggestions for reconstructing Lebanon after the July 2006 war.

According to the WikiLeaks cable, dated August 14, 2006, the ambassador said that despite the ceasefire between Hizbullah and Israel, the situation could easily spiral out of control should either of them cross any red lines, which would discourage countries from sending troops to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Defense Minister Elias Murr stressed that the Lebanese army cannot properly establish itself in the South alongside Hizbullah’s armed presence, reported a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday.

He added that the army’s position in the South should be bolstered “as soon as possible” in order to destroy Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s “rude and arrogant” rhetoric displayed during his August 14, 2006 speech, said the WikiLeaks cable dated August 15, 2006.

Speaker Nabih Berri did not deny the recent WikiLeaks reports that have been published exclusively in Al-Akhbar newspaper.

An MP had asked the speaker of his opinion on the cables, to which he responded: “All I know is that what was attributed to me are very accurate.”

Former Premier Fouad Saniora reportedly said after the 2006 war that he feared Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would topple the government.

In a WikiLeaks cable dated August 16, 2006, Saniora told then U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that he was making every effort to deploy the Lebanese army as quick as possible in the south.