Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat will remain in the cabinet and is committed to his alliance with Hizbullah, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

“Although they have different stances regarding the Syrian revolution, Jumblat is committed to his alliance with Hizbullah,” sources close to the PSP leader told the daily.

Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammed Fneish said on Tuesday that the ministry received a number of applications to fill the vacant posts in the board of directors of the oil authority.

“The period has ended to submit the applications and we will move to the next stage on Wednesday,” Fneish told As Safir newspaper.

A U.S.-Lebanese man accused of placing a backpack he thought held a bomb near a major Chicago sports field pleaded guilty to weapons charges Monday and could face up to 30 years in federal prison.

Lebanese immigrant Sami Samir Hassoun, 24, admitted he took what he thought was a bomb and dropped it into a trash bin near Wrigley Field with the intent to harm many people.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan welcomed a request submitted by Lebanese Forces lawmaker George Adwan at the parliament to form an investigation committee concerning the leasing of power-generating vessels, media reports said on Tuesday.

“The formation of the committee would make the issue more transparent,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

A Fatah al-Islam Lebanese militant, who was accused of targeting the Lebanese army, was killed in the Syrian city of Qsair after detonating himself accidentally, the Time reported.

According to a fellow fighter, who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Ali, Abdul Ghani Jawhar had been preparing an explosive device to be used against the Syrian army when it went off prematurely, killing him instantly.

Lebanese security authorities will announce the results of the investigation of the sniper attack on Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea in the coming hours, March 14 opposition circles said Tuesday.

The sources told An Nahar that the results of the probe would settle the controversy on whether Geagea escaped an assassination attempt or he was only shot at.

Lebanese expatriates are waiting for the cabinet decision on the mechanism that would allow them to cast their ballots in the 2013 elections as the session at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday is expected to tackle the issue.

“The cabinet would have to confront the complications that will be caused by the discussions on the mechanism that would enable expats to vote,” ministerial sources told An Nahar on Tuesday.

Lebanese officials are gearing up for the appointment of more than 39 ambassadors in embassies abroad but are facing a few obstacles that require a last minute solution, An Nahar daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said a meeting held between President Michel Suleiman and Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Monday was aimed at discussing ways to fill vacant diplomatic seats ahead of the 2013 parliamentary elections, which could witness votes by Lebanese expatriates.

Interpol, the international police organization, Monday said it had rejected a call by Cairo for the arrest of 15 foreigners, including two Lebanese, linked to non-governmental organizations operating in Egypt.

The "request is not in conformity with Interpol's rules ... under which it is 'strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character'," France-based Interpol said in a statement.

Israel is to start building a wall along part of its border with Lebanon next week to shield the northern town of Metulla, Channel 10 television reported on Monday.

It said the wall, more than two kilometers long and 10 meters high, was also aimed at preventing clashes between Israeli and Lebanese border forces whose posts are often just meters apart.