A number of activists describing themselves as “independent intellectuals” on Monday staged a march in Beirut in solidarity with the Syrian people, state-run National News Agency reported.

Shouting slogans in support of the Syrian people, demonstrators marched from Beirut’s Mathaf district towards the government’s headquarters at the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut, amid tight security measures, NNA said.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied on Monday media reports that Lebanon had agreed to discuss the maritime border with Israel.

The Israeli Haaretz newspaper had recently reported United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon as saying that Lebanon and Israel agreed to discuss issues of maritime security through a tripartite mechanism and the possible assistance of local experts.

Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem accused on Sunday the Mustaqbal movement of being a militia, saying that it does not want to recognize Lebanon as a country of diverse sects.

He said during an iftar in the city of Baalbek: “The Mustaqbal party has not taken into consideration the situation in Lebanon and it believes that it has the right to monopolize the premiership.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel criticized on Monday the government’s conduct, pointing out the contradictory positions adopted by some of its members and accusing it of neglecting its duties.

He noted Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s announcement of his commitment to international agreements and justice, while other sides declared that no one will be able to apprehend suspects wanted by international law.

Amal movement and Hizbullah leaderships in southern Lebanon have stressed on dialogue as the only solution to Lebanon’s problems.

“The Lebanese have the single choice of dialogue to solve their problems,” the two allied parties said in a statement following an Iftar organized by Hizbullah in Nabatiyeh.

Lebanese politicians seem to be heading towards a new showdown over the issue of proportional representation in the 2013 parliamentary elections after Druze leader Walid Jumblat called for keeping the current electoral system.

During an Iftar held in the Shouf over the weekend, Jumblat said: “It would be better to postpone discussions of proportionality and keep the status quo to preserve diversity and plurality.”

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is investigating Iran’s possible involvement in the Feb. 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others, the German Der Spiegel magazine reported on Monday.

The report said that there is evidence that link Iran with the murder of Hariri.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on Monday that the officers and security members in Roumieh prison clearly neglected their duties when five inmates escaped over the weekend.

“This is proved and doesn’t require any investigation,” Charbel told As Safir newspaper.

The government faces the biggest test ever of bridging the gap among its different members this week after a dispute erupted over a draft law aimed at granting Energy Minister Jebran Bassil $1.2 billion to build plants to produce 700 Megawatts of electricity.

The cabinet meets at President Michel Suleiman’s summer residence in Beiteddine on Thursday amid threats by MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement to withdraw its ministers from the government over accusations that Premier Najib Miqati contributed to blocking the draft law proposed by Aoun in parliament.

President Michel Suleiman is scheduled to travel to Monaco on Thursday on a four-day official visit, al-Liwaa daily reported.

The newspaper also said that Suleiman held separate talks with Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea after the Iftar banquet he threw in honor of politicians and clergymen last Thursday.