Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to visit the northern city of Tripoli on November 12 as part of his ongoing tour of various Lebanese regions, reported the Central News Agency on Thursday.

It said that he is set to hold talks with a number of the city’s official, sectarian, and political figures.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stated on Thursday that Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had committed “in principle” to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He told BBC television in an interview set to be broadcast later on Thursday: “Nasrallah never said ‘no’ to the tribunal. Of course the party has its reservations on the STL, but he left it up to the constitutional institutions to assume their duties in this matter.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Thursday that the Syrian regime cannot go ahead with the Arab League proposal even though it had announced its acceptance of the initiative “without reservations.”

He added: “The regime has only made a political maneuver and it cannot withdraw its troops from the streets and it will not allow the media and rights groups to enter Syria.”

Libyan National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil said on Thursday that revealing the fate of Imam Moussa al-Sadr is a priority for the Libyan authorities.

On the sidelines of a news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in the Libyan city of Benghazi, Abdel Jalil said: "One of the priorities of the new government is to investigate what Gadhafi did to the Libyan people and people from different nations."

Military examining magistrate Judge Fadi Sawan issued arrest warrants against three Syrians on charges of arms trade, the National News Agency reported Thursday.

NNA said Sawan questioned two Syrians and issued the warrants against them.

The Maronite Bishops Council condemned on Thursday the ongoing political divide in Lebanon, urging the Lebanese to commit to their country and reject any foreign meddling.

It said in a statement after its monthly meeting: “The political divide pains us and we call on the Lebanese to reject any attempts to drive the country towards a confrontation with the international community.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat confirmed on Thursday his decision to step down from the leadership of his party, As Safir newspaper reported.

He stressed that he will not discuss the matter even if he was pressured by the party members to reconsider his position.

The Lebanese army command said Thursday there will be a temporary freeze to all arms licenses based on a decree issued by Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn.

Decree number 1199 called for a temporary freeze to all arms licenses throughout the country starting 12:00 am Wednesday.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora stressed on Thursday that the resumption the national dialogue requires several steps among them implementing what the foes agreed on during the previous all-party talks, As Safir newspaper reported.

Saniora said that Hizbullah’s arms are a critical issue that should be a priority on any dialogue table, followed by the defense strategy, “and not the other way around.”

The ringleader of the network that abducted the seven Estonian tourists in March, Wael Abbas, was on Thursday being questioned by the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch, judicial sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

The sources said Abbas was first questioned by the General Security Department and was then transferred to the Intelligence Branch.