Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun slammed on Tuesday Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat’s recent criticism against him, telling him to exercise some humility and accusing him of being disrespectful.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “You should remain silent. I have the right to put you on trial and strip you of your immunity.”

Spanish Defense Minister Pedro Morenes stressed on Tuesday his country’s commitment to reduce by 20 percent the number of Spanish troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, reported the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.

He told Spanish state television that the rest of the Spanish troops will completely withdraw from the international force in 2013.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati noted on Tuesday that the calm atmosphere that marked Sunday’s municipal by-elections reflected the Lebanese people’s “constant longing” to practice their democratic rights.

He said: “The various regional developments will not thwart us from holding the 2013 parliamentary elections on time.”

Members of Lebanon’s Court of Cassation elected two judges Tuesday to the Higher Judicial Council which is the subject of a controversy since its head Judge Ghaleb Ghanem retired in January last year.

Judges Antoine Daher and Suhair Harakeh were elected out of four candidates who ran for the posts.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reiterated on Tuesday his call on Lebanese expatriates to “swiftly register their spouses and children in the Lebanese embassies and consulates in order to obtain their home country’s nationality.”

“The Lebanese embassies and consulates in Canada are cooperating to register the wife and children (of Lebanese nationals) in Lebanon,” al-Rahi said during a mass at the Maronite Catholic parish at Saint Charbel Church in Ottawa.

The residents of the town of Jal el-Dib blocked the highway and the coastal road on Tuesday after the government failed to meet their one-month ultimatum to find a solution to the traffic following the dismantlement of the old metal bridge.

Their protest caused bumper-to-bumper traffic during the early morning rush hour, preventing commuters from reaching their workplaces on time.

Lebanese officials are exerting efforts to resolve the remaining disputes over the offshore natural reserves in the Exclusive Economic Zone, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.

President Michel Suleiman chaired a meeting on Monday at the Baabda Palace with Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and several other involved officials.

EU Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst revealed on Tuesday that Premier Najib Miqati discussed with European officials the need to launch joint technical efforts as part of the Union for the Mediterranean.

In an interview published in An Nahar daily on Tuesday, Eichhorst said part of Miqati’s discussions with EU officials during his latest visit to Brussels focused on Lebanon’s role in the union.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon spokesman Marten Youssef said on Tuesday that the defense office can contradict the claims of the prosecution in 2012, stressing that the Lebanese authorities are obliged to cooperate with the lawyers.

Youssef revealed in an interview with the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper, that the prosecutor’s office provided the defense office with 28,000 pages on the investigations in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder and related crimes.

Premier Najib Miqati is scrambling to avoid a showdown between President Michel Suleiman and March 8 ministers during Wednesday’s cabinet session that is set to discuss the controversial $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending.

Miqati held separate talks with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi on Monday in an effort to find a way out of the spending crisis that erupted after the March 8 ministers pressured the head of state to sign the $5.9 billion bill.