Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea had reportedly backed Nassib Lahoud, Butros Harb and Charles Rizk “as a last resort” for the presidency.

According to a WikiLeaks cable dated November 8, 2007 published by al-Akhbar daily on Wednesday, Geagea told then U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that the candidates he backed for the presidency are Lahoud, Harb and Rizk “as a last resort.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams hoped that the seven kidnapped Estonians bicyclists would soon return safely to their families for they came to Lebanon “with no ill intent and their early return to their own country I think is of the utmost importance.”

Williams discussed the situation in Lebanon and also the dramatic developments in the broader Arab region with Hizbullah International Relations Official Ammar Moussawi on Tuesday.

Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi described last week’s mutiny at Roumieh prison as an “organized rebellion” which could have spiraled out of control had the authorities not put an end to it.

“The protest movements that renewed at Roumieh prison last Monday and were accompanied by the burning of tires in (several) regions, showed that there was a single unit moving both the prisoners and their families,” Rifi told An Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday.

Hundreds of violations in illegal construction on state property have been recorded in southern Lebanon, As Safir daily reported Wednesday warning that the phenomenon could spread if security forces do not put an end to it.

More than 500 violations have been made in the south, particularly in the towns of Adloun, Sarafand, al-Bisariyeh, al-Zrariyeh and al-Saksakiyeh, the newspaper quoted a security source as saying.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati was surprised by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun’s latest stance which did not reflect the progress made in the contacts on the formation of the new government, sources close to Miqati have said.

But the sources told An Nahar and As Safir newspapers in remarks published Wednesday that Miqati will pursue his contacts with officials to form a “productive cabinet that satisfies all Lebanese and whose formation is based on constitutional rules.”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday voiced concerns over the "negative repercussions of the delay" in forming a new cabinet.

In this regard, the bloc cited "the surfacing of further negative economic and financial indicators, the obstruction of citizens' interests, the decline in tourism and financial growth rates and the deterioration in confidence in Lebanon."

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Lebanese Information Center on Monday hosted a presentation in Washington DC by prominent Lebanese journalist May Chidiac.

The presentation, held at the Woodrow Wilson Center Headquarters, was titled “The Political Situation in Lebanon with an Eye on What is Happening in Syria.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Tuesday that despite the tensions in the Arab world, which he said are only temporary, the stability in Lebanon will not be affected.

Addressing the government formation process, he stated after the movement’s weekly meeting: “There is nothing new to report in the cabinet formation.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Tuesday that a new Lebanese government will not bolster the Lebanese state, but it will instead support the March 8 camp “that likes to call itself a Resistance.”

He said: “We have not recognized it as a Resistance as no law has been approved in parliament to officially call it so.”

In collaboration with the U.N. Development Program (UNDP) and Canal France International (CFI), the Agence France Presse Foundation on Wednesday began a training program to promote local coverage of stories related to development.

The two-year media development program was inaugurated in Beirut on Tuesday by AFP chairman and chief executive Emmanuel Hoog, Lebanese acting Information Minister Tareq Mitri, UNDP's Lebanon representative Robert Watkins, CFI director Etienne Flatte and AFP Foundation director Robert Holloway.