Residents of the southern city of Sidon were surprised on Monday to see two rabbis touring Jewish sites in the city's old quarter.

The two American members of Neturei Karta -- a group of anti-Zionist Jews who believe that the state of Israel should not exist -- came to a former synagogue inhabited for decades by families in the "Jewish quarter" where now only the Star of David and Hebrew inscriptions are visible.

The Phalange Party condemned on Monday the government’s handling of the electricity crisis in Lebanon, saying that it demonstrated that the concerned sides “showed a complete disregard for laws and international standards in dealing with the decision to lease power-generating vessels.”

It said after its weekly politburo meeting: “The suspicious handling of the crisis raises questions on how trustworthy these sides are in tackling the petroleum file.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat saluted on Monday the Syrian people in their ongoing uprising against the ruling regime.

He noted in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The resistance in Lebanon must join the Syrian people’s resistance against the regime.”

State commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Monday three Lebanese and six Syrians with smuggling weapons to Syria through al-Qaa border town.

The National News Agency reported that four out of the six Syrians were detained and one Lebanese remains at large.

Security forces arrested a gang on Monday as it was trying to steal power generators in the Koura district, reported the National News Agency.

The three suspects, who hail from Qobbeh in the northern city of Tripoli, confessed to committing over five other burglaries in the town of Kfar Hazir in Koura.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath held talks on Monday with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati separately as he is expected to meet with several other senior Lebanese officials.

The National News Agency reported that Suleiman discussed with Baragwanath at the Baabda Palace the progress of the STL’s work and the previous indictments it had issued.

The residents of Jal el-Dib and neighboring areas are expected to stage a sit-in on Tuesday morning on the Beirut-Jounieh highway in protest of the cabinet’s failure to find an alternative solution to traffic after the dismantlement of the metal bridge, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported.

Head of the Council of Development and Reconstruction Nabil al-Jisr told VDL that the cabinet is stalling the matter.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati has welcomed a feasibility study on the establishment of a nuclear reactor for peaceful scientific research in Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported Monday.

The daily said that Miqati welcomed the idea during a meeting he held with a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency and Lebanese scientists.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Monday that if the government re-implemented the 1960 electoral law for the upcoming 2013 elections then it would be a step backward, As Safir newspaper reported.

“Whoever is seeking to push this matter forward will be held responsible,” Berri said.

Senior Fatah commander Maj. Gen. Mounir Maqdah stressed on Monday that the trade of weapons in Lebanon flourished after the Syrian regime began cracking down on protestors in March last year.

“The trade of arms flourished after the events in Syria,” he said about the one-year-old uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.