Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hailed on Monday the international community's “unprecedented historic step” in recognizing the state of Palestine.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The decision should help the Palestinians continue their struggle to establish their independent state away from the empty slogans of defiance issued by regimes that have spoken of liberating the whole of Palestine without lifting a finger to so for decades.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati asked the Red Cross on Monday to mediate with Syrian authorities to retrieve the bodies of Lebanese Islamist fighters killed on Friday in the province of Homs, as the situation remained tense in the northern city of Tripoli.

In a phone conversation with the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Lebanon George Montani, Miqati also urged the international organization to gather information about the other surviving fighters in the Syrian city.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stated on Monday that tackling the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has become a “very pressing” issue.

He said: “Lebanon can no longer support their burden alone.”

President Michel Suleiman reiterated on Monday the significant role of the army and security agencies in preventing arms smuggling in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“The army and security apparatus play an important role in preventing the flow of weapons and armed groups,” said Suleiman.

A Progressive Socialist Party delegation held talks on Monday with Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel to propose to him an initiative by MP Walid Jumblat to end the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon.

“We have no choice but to discuss the matter with our foes,” Gemayel told reporters after the meeting at the party headquarters in Saifi.

The Lebanese Army command said Monday that a suspect, who had shot dead a soldier in the town of Jounieh a day earlier, is involved in smuggling and has connections to arms traders.

Army Intelligence Sergeant Samson Antranikian was killed at dawn Sunday when the suspect, now identified as Hassan Hussein Orayyeb, opened fire on a patrol during a manhunt in Jounieh, north of Beirut.

Speaker Nabih Berri emphasized on Monday that Lebanon and Cyprus have no problems over the offshore oil and gas wealth in the Mediterranean.

He said after holding talks with visiting Cypriot Speaker Yiannakis Omirou: “I hope that tenders would be issued before the end of the year to begin oil and gas exploration.”

Al-Mustaqbal MP Oqab Saqr admitted on Monday that the audio recording that was circulated in the media last week, during which he was carrying out a weapons delivery deal with the Syrian opposition, was true.

“Yes this is my voice, and these are my own words,” Saqr told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said Monday it is wrong to bet on the outcome of the Syrian crisis to make political gains after several Lebanese men were killed as they were trying to infiltrate Syria.

“The essence of the government's policy of staying at a distance (from the Syrian crisis) was aimed at keeping Lebanon away from regional conflicts and safeguarding it against external threats,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

The controversial issue of providing security agencies with telecommunications data resurfaced on Monday after a judicial authority rejected a request to expose the text messages (sms) among the Lebanese, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday.

A source close to the judicial authority, which is tasked with assessing the possibility of providing the security forces with the data, told the newspaper that the security agencies' request clearly violates the constitution and the privacy of citizens.