Parliament is expected to convene on Monday and Tuesday in order to tackle 33 projects and draft laws, most notably one on state institution expenses and the other on the employment of Electricite du Liban contract workers, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Several contacts were conducted between the rival parliamentary majority and the opposition in order to ensure that spending draft law will be tackled at parliament, said the daily.

The Imam of Sidon’s Bilal bin Rabah mosque Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir stressed that he will not suspend the sit-in that he has been staging in the city until his demands are met.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun reiterated that the adoption of proportional representation in the parliamentary electoral law will help reflect Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat’s real political weight, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

He told the daily: “Jumblat is suffering from an inferiority complex. He fears the Christians, Shiites, and Sunnis because they outnumber him.”

The son of herbal expert Zein al-Atat was released on Saturday after mediations were successful with the kidnappers, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said that Ibrahim al-Atat was released on the outskirts of Baalbek.

United Nations Interim Force spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said on Saturday that a dispute occurred between peacekeeping troops and the residents of the southern border town of Maroun al-Ras .

According to the National News Agency, the UNIFIL peacekeepers were taking snapshots of the area when several civilians came across and took the camera from them.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani urged on Saturday the abductors of the 11 Lebanese Shiites pilgrims to release them as soon as possible.

“We haven’t received any new information on the abducted men,” Qabbani said after holding a meeting with the families of the 11 men in the presence of AMAL and Hizbullah representatives.

Maronite Patriarch Beshar al-Rahi reiterated on Saturday his call on rival Lebanese foes to renew their commitment to the 1943 national pact, urging Muslims and Christians to coexist.

“I have already said that we need to go back to the 1943 national pact where only one state existed,” al-Rahi told reporters upon his arrival in Beirut following his trip to Turkey.

Popular Nasserite Organization head Osama Saad urged on Saturday the cabinet to assume its responsibilities, holding it accountable for resolving the blockage of roads in Sidon.

“The cabinet is responsible for providing everyone with the freedom to move around,” Saad said during a press conference at his office in Sidon.

Lebanese shepherd Youssef Zahra, who was kidnapped by Israeli forces from a disputed area, returned to Lebanon after he was released on Saturday.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon handed over Zahra to the Lebanese army intelligence base in the area of Naqoura.

Six candidates will fight the by-elections in the northern district of Koura after the deadline for the announcement of candidacies for the vacated Greek Orthodox post ended, the interior ministry announced on Saturday.

The ministry said the deadline for candidates to announce that they are running in the July 15 by-elections ended after midnight Friday.