Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq reiterated during talks with hunger strikers on Tuesday that his resignation would have negative consequences, one of the activists said.

Waref Suleiman, who has been on hunger strike for the past 14 days, said al-Mashnouq told the delegation that he was fighting corruption similar to civil society activists.

The trial of Ahmed al-Asir at the military court was on Tuesday postponed to October 20 upon the request of defense lawyers.

The military judge's decision to adjourn the session was expected because it was the first time that the Salafist cleric went on trial.

The relatives of the servicemen taken hostage by jihadists in August last year are planning to hold a protest in downtown Beirut on Wednesday.

Nizam Mughit, one of the family members, said Tuesday: “We will resort to the streets tomorrow, hoisting the pictures of the kidnapped servicemen to tell everyone that this case has not been closed.”

Civil society activists held a protest near the finance ministry in Beirut on Tuesday to stop the transfer of the salaries of lawmakers whom they accuse of being corrupt.

Police immediately deployed in the area to stop the protesters from entering the building similar to when demonstrators stormed the environment ministry earlier this month to demand the minister's resignation.

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat is exerting efforts to resolve the army appointments crisis by trying to appease Change and Reform bloc leader lawmaker Michel Aoun and other parties through the promotion of only three army officers, al-Akhbar daily reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said that Jumblat has tasked Health Minister Wael Abou Faour to hold contacts and meetings to assess whether the promotion of the three officers, including Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, is acceptable.

Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun is mulling to boycott the second national dialogue session that is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, An Nahar newspaper reported.

Aoun is studying his options, a Free Patriotic Movement official, who was not identified, told the daily.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem held talks Monday at his office with Sports and Youth Minister Abdul Mutalleb Hennawi, who is close to former President Michel Suleiman.

“The normal course for resolving the dispute over the cabinet's work mechanism would be addressing the root of the problem, which is the military appointments,” said Qassem during the meeting.

The Internal Security Forces announced Monday the arrest of a gang that robbed dozens of restaurants and supermarkets over the past five months.

“Following intensive investigations and surveillance, a patrol from the Mount Lebanon investigations department chased several suspects at dawn today on the highway between Dbaye and Nahr el-Mot,” an ISF statement said.

Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb stressed on Monday that only partnership would guarantee the success of the committee tasked with resolving the two-month long waste crisis.

“Let's give it a chance before it's too late,” he told reporters in a press conference following the meeting of the Parliamentary Environment Committee.

Public Works Minister Ghazi Zoaiter on Monday shoved off the responsibility of possible floods caused by waste dumped on the side of the streets on municipalities.

During a press conference he held at his office, Zoaiter said the trash dumped on the side of the roads and on the banks of rivers will cause a problem at the start of the rain season.