In the Old City district of Damascus, the Greek Orthodox Church of Syria held a funeral on Monday for Ignatius IV Hazim, patriarch of Antioch and All the East.

The ceremony was attended by a large number of religious leaders of several faiths, including Catholic Patriarch Gregory III Laham, as well as government officials.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped on Monday that the government would take “bold and decisive” measures to halt corruption and the squandering of public funds.

He asked: “Why is the cabinet shying away from its responsibilities in tackling the new wage scale?”

President Michel Suleiman hailed on Monday as successful a security plan implemented by the Lebanese Army in the northern city of Tripoli as Prime Minister Najib Miqati hoped the situation there would remain under control following a week of deadly gunbatttles.

“The implementation of the security plan drawn by security officials began yesterday (Sunday) and it seems that it has so far given a positive effect,” Suleiman told a cabinet session held at Baabda palace.

General Prosecutor Judge Hatem Madi requested on Monday the recordings of interviews and a press conference conducted by Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr in recent weeks, reported the National News Agency.

He ordered the recording of an interview he gave to al-Jadeed television on Sunday, a press conference broadcast on Future TV on Thursday, and the leaked audiotape with a Syrian rebel aired by OTV on November 29.

United Nations Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson visited the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon where he met with Force Commander Major General Paolo Serra and the Mission’s senior leadership, hailing the cooperation between the army and international force, announced UNIFIL in a statement on Monday.

Eliasson emphasized the need for continued coordinated operations with the Lebanese army saying: “Cooperation between the army and UNIFIL is critical for the successful implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.”

Several opposition lawmakers gave their consent on Monday to the activation of a parliamentary subcommittee to discuss an electoral draft-law on condition that no government representative attends the talks.

Following a meeting held by the opposition's parliamentary committee heads, rapporteurs and members of parliament's bureau at MP Butros Harb's residence for the second time in 12 days, the MPs said they were willing to attend the meeting of the subcommittee to agree on a new electoral draft-law but stuck onto their demand for the nonattendance of government representatives.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr completed on Monday his assessment of the case of former Minister Michel Samaha, requesting that the investigation expand to include the questioning of Syrian officials, reported the National News Agency.

Saqr requested the questioning of Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk and a colonel identified only as Adnan as suspects in the case.

Life on Monday began to return to normal in the northern city of Tripoli, which witnessed a week of deadly clashes between gunmen from rival neighborhoods, after the Lebanese Army deployed in the tense areas for the first time.

The Army, which was given on Sunday the political green light to implement a security plan, began to restore law and order in the city by deploying in the neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen and entering Bab al-Tabbaneh for the first time on Monday morning.

Al-Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr stressed that the abductors of nine Lebanese pilgrims in Syria are offering a deal to free the men in exchange for the release of Syrian political prisoners as media reports said on Monday that Hizbullah allegedly has set up a jail in the Bekaa for Syrians infiltrating the country.

Saqr said during an interview with al-Jadeed channel on Sunday night that the kidnappers of the Lebanese men, who were abducted on May 22 in Syria, demand the release of all Syrian political prisoners in Damascus and in Lebanon to free the pilgrims.

Israel's ambassador to the U.S. has warned that any possible transfer from the Syrian regime of chemical weapons to Hizbullah would be a "game-changer," and said that would be a "red line" for the Jewish state.

"Were those weapons to pass into the wrong hands -- Hizbullah's hands for example -- that would be a game-changer for us," Ambassador Michael Oren told Fox News Sunday.