Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat praised on Tuesday the residents of the northern region of Akkar for their support of the displaced Syrians who have sought refuge in the area.

He condemned attempts “by some authorities in power” to link terrorism to Akkar.

Syrian authorities thwarted on Monday night the infiltration of an “armed terrorist group” from Lebanon into Syria, reported SANA news agency on Tuesday.

It said that the group was attempting to enter Reef Homs in Syria from northern Lebanon.

Retired Army Brig. Gen. Fayez Karam, who was convicted of collaborating with Israel, was released from jail on Tuesday after the prison year was reduced to nine months.

The National News Agency reported that a white Jeep Infinity transferred Karam from the military police prison in al-Rayhaniyeh near the Defense Ministry.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath informed President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the trials will kick off before the end of the year, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, Baragwanath expressed relief over the work of the STL, praising the Lebanese authorities’ cooperation with the court.

Cypriot authorities informed Lebanon that Israel is willing to resolve the dispute over the maritime borders, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Sources told the daily that the extensive contacts between the Lebanese and Cypriot sides “expressed the seriousness of the Cypriot part to resolve the issue.”

The March 14 opposition is mulling to withdraw its confidence from the government although it needs the support of MP Walid Jumblat’s National Struggle Front to achieve that objective, parliamentary sources said Tuesday.

The sources told al-Liwaa daily, however, that the lawmakers of the NSF would not join the opposition in its attempt to withdraw its confidence from the cabinet or several ministers given that Jumblat is reiterating his support for the government.

March 14 opposition MP Marwan Hamadeh said on Tuesday that the latest debate on a draft electoral law emerged to the surface to “cover up the continues scandals hammering the cabinet.”

Hamadeh slammed in comments published in An Nahar the efforts exerted by Lebanese officials to drop the 1960 law, which was agreed upon by all the political forces in the previous elections.

Cabinet approved on Tuesday a bill on the installation of high-voltage electricity lines in the North Metn towns of Mansourieh and Ain Saadeh, reported LBC television.

It added that cabinet also approved the formation of a committee that would oversee the implementation of the decision.

Three Lebanese army soldiers were injured at dawn Tuesday during a raid to arrest wanted criminals in al-Sharawina neighborhood of the eastern city of Baalbek, the army command said.

It said in a communiqué that a gunfight erupted when the armed men took refuge in the house of a female lawyer whom it identified with her initials as L.J.

Angry residents held a sit-in at the location of a dismantled bridge on the Jal el-Dib highway on Tuesday to protest the lack of an alternative for traffic.

The sit-in that was held during the morning rush hour caused bumper-to-bumper traffic on the highway that links Beirut to the North after the protestors blocked the road for a short period.