Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held talks with visiting Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Mohammed Reza Shebani and his accompanying delegation that included Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi.

The Hizbullah chief is scheduled to make a television appearance on the occasion of Liberation Day on Wednesday during which he will issue “clear positions” on Syria, informed Lebanese sources told the Saudi Okaz newspaper in remarks published on Saturday.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman ended his visit to Lebanon on Saturday after holding talks with a number of Lebanese officials on the government formation process, including President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati.

A U.S. Embassy statement said on Friday that he reiterated the U.S.'s view that the international community will assess its relationship with any new government of Lebanon based on the make-up of the next cabinet, its ministerial statement and the actions it takes in regard to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and Lebanon's other international obligations.

Akram Shakib Murad, a Syrian false witness in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has been handed over to the Syrian judicial authorities after his sentence in Roumieh prison ended, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It added that the procedures for his return were conducted quickly, “which reflected a Syrian interest in returning a wanted citizen who had issued a testimony before the international investigation looking into the Hariri assassination.”

Caretaker Prime minister Saad Hariri still does not recognize Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati’s right to head a government, a former diplomat told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday.

“If he were in Miqati’s place, he would have formed a government that would force all sides to accept the status quo,” he added.

The families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks have filed a lawsuit against Hizbullah and Iran, accusing them of assisting al-Qaida in conducting the attacks, reported the New York Times on Friday.

The lawsuit included testimonies of defectors from Iranian intelligence, whose identities have not been revealed.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati is holding on to his constitutional rights in forming the new cabinet, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday.

“If I began my governmental career by abandoning the constitution, what will I be left with?” his visitors quoted him as asking.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed to An Nahar daily on Saturday that the new cabinet should be formed soon “in order to fortify Lebanon on the security and economic levels”.

He noted that the region is passing through a difficult period “that has many positive outcomes and some negative ones”.

Head of Fatah’s press office Issam al-Halabi announced on Friday that the action as part of the Palestinians’ right to their homeland that were launched on the Nakba Day on Sunday will continue with a festival at Maroun al-Ras on Liberation Day on Wednesday.

He told the Central News Agency that preparations for the event are underway in cooperation with various Lebanese parties.

Lebanon should grant immediate asylum to Syrians fleeing violence in their country instead of detaining them, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

"Lebanon's security forces should stop detaining Syrian refugees who cross the border into Lebanon to escape violence and persecution in their country," the New York-based rights group said.

Some 1,400 Syrians, many of them women and children without belongings, crossed the border with Lebanon last week to join many more who have fled the unrest at home, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

"Most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.