The Phalange Party warned Monday that chaos is the alternative of national dialogue, calling on President Michel Suleiman and the country's leaders to broaden the discussions in the dialogue committee and move to “rescue Lebanon from all illegitimate arms.”

In a statement issued after a meeting of its political bureau, the Phalange Party said that “Hizbullah's weapons have started spawning other weapons, which might turn Lebanon into an arsenal of illegal arms,” calling on the party officials to “shoulder their national responsibility and present a vision about their arms and to acknowledge the exclusive legitimacy of the state’s weapons.”

Hizbullah on Monday hailed the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Morsi as president of Egypt as "historic," and said it hoped the country would regain its leadership role in the Arab world.

"Hizbullah congratulates the great Egyptian people for this historic election," the party said, adding that it hoped Morsi would enable Egypt "to regain its leadership role in the Muslim-Arab world and to define the future of the region."

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said Monday that “the challenges facing the new Egyptian president are many,” adding that the victory of Mohammed Morsi as Egypt’s president is a “gradual progress towards strengthening the achievements of the revolution which led to the uprooting of dictatorship, and paving the way for democracy.”

In his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine, Jumblat said that the Egyptian president faces many challenges to develop the country and its people “including the installation of the emerging democratic system and expanding the base of political participation, as well as economic challenges in terms of fighting against poverty and illiteracy.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel granted Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji on Wednesday the ministry’s competency medal as a token of appreciation for his efficiency.

Charbel praised the role played by the military institution in seeking to maintain stability and security in the country.

The firefighting department wrapped up on Monday its strike after Beirut’s municipality vowed to follow up their demands.

The firefighters threatened to continue their strike a week from now if their demands weren’t implemented.

Workers at the State Employees' Cooperative escalated their nationwide strike on Monday as they kicked off a sit-in near the institution’s headquarter in Karantina area.

The employees flocked from across Lebanon to Karantina announcing that they stopped receiving medical treatment applications.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed that the security agencies will kick off on Wednesday a 1 month, 24 hours a day security plan.

He told reporters after chairing a meeting of the Central Security Council on Monday that the Internal Security Forces will set up check points starting from Beirut and reaching other areas across Lebanon.

March 14 opposition sources expected the country’s top leaders to “buy time” during a national dialogue session on Monday as the coalition seeks to integrate Hizbullah’s arms into the Lebanese army.

The sources told An Nahar daily that the leaders who met at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman are not expected to achieve tangible results.

The national dialogue was resumed on Monday with the gatherers voicing their rejection of the use of arms on the internal scene in Lebanon.

They said in a statement: “Political cover must be lifted off the use of weapons in Lebanon.”

Several people were wounded on Sunday in an armed clash in the northern town of Minieh between supporters of MP Kazem al-Kheir and partisans of Kamal al-Kheir, head of the National Gathering for Social Action, state-run National News Agency reported.

The wounded were transferred to nearby hospitals as the army launched raids to arrest the shooters, NNA said.