Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated on Wednesday that the Mustaqbal bloc’s call that Hizbullah’s arms be the only issue at the national dialogue table cannot be considered as a precondition seeing as this is the only issue left to be discussed at the table.

Saniora said in a statement: “We are all aspiring for the rise of the fair and capable state, which controls the arms and is able of confronting Israel.”

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that Lebanon is determined to defend its rights and it will not tolerate the violation of its land, water or oil wealth.

He declared during Wednesday’s parliamentary meeting that Lebanon will confront any Israeli attempt to take advantage of Lebanon’s maritime border and offshore resources.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly had an introductory courtesy call on Wednesday with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Minister's offices in Ashrafieh.

Connelly and Mansour discussed the ongoing areas of bilateral cooperation between the various ministries and agencies of the Lebanese government and the U.S. government.

The March 14 general-secretariat hinted on Wednesday that national dialogue became useless after the Syria-Hizbullah alliance decided on behalf of the Lebanese to prevent the state from owning arms.

“Dialogue became useless after three years of time wasting and after the regional-local axis decided on behalf of the Lebanese what their state should not possess,” the general-secretariat said following its weekly meeting.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat announced on Wednesday that Lebanon is committed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s decisions, adding however that this does not mean that foreign meddling in Lebanon is permitted.

He made his statements after holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his ongoing visit to Russia.

The American administration will likely determine its strategy towards the Lebanese government during the upcoming weeks based on Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s handling of the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, revealed official American sources to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday.

They added that the U.S. is adopting a “calm tone” in tackling the Lebanese file “seeing as it has other foreign priorities in the Arab world, such as the peace process and the situation in Egypt, Syria, Libya, and Yemen.”

The predominantly Shiite town of Lassa in the Jbeil district has been transformed into a Hizbullah military base, informed sources told al-Joumhouria daily on Wednesday.

The sources said that the Shiite party dig tunnels, set up shelters in the town and installed cameras that would take photos of vehicles and drivers.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati will reply in a calm way to all the campaigns that are targeting him, and will prove his cabinet’s determination to improve the living conditions in the country, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Miqati’s circles told the newspaper that “citizens will gradually witness the changes in different sectors.”

Around 40 horses were put down at the Beirut racecourse lately after contracting deadly bacteria that harms humans as well, al-Liwaa daily reported Wednesday.

The association in charge of the hippodrome and the agriculture ministry are staying mum on the issue although there is still a long list of horses that should be put down, the newspaper quoted sources as saying.

March 14 MP Butros Harb snapped back at Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, saying the party’s chief never proposed a defense strategy to the national dialogue conferees in 2006.

“All what Nasrallah proposed at the time was his point of view in anticipation of the proposal of the defense strategy along with Speaker Nabih Berri,” Harb told An Nahar daily published Wednesday.