The movement of U.S. warships in the Mediterranean sea has been disrupting Lebanon’s internet services in the past three weeks, An Nahar daily reported Saturday.

The newspaper said that the problems which began when former Premier Saad Hariri’s government collapsed are not the result of operations conducted by UNIFIL’s naval force.

Diplomats at the United Nations said they have “taken notice” of Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s vows to remain committed to international resolutions, including the resolution that established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The diplomats, who refused to be identified, told An Nahar daily that “until now” Lebanese institutions “are working correctly.”

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati sent a message to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, Miqati’s advisor Joe Issa al-Khoury told reporters in Bkirki on Friday.

Following talks with Sfeir, al-Khoury refused to unveil details of the message that he delivered to the patriarch.

A Lebanese-German man who says he was snatched by the CIA in Macedonia and tortured at a secret prison after being mistaken for a terrorism suspect, will begin a legal battle against Macedonia Friday to demand official recognition of his ordeal.

Khaled el-Masri is seeking €50,000 ($69,000) in compensation — and an apology — from the government in Macedonia, where he says he was abducted while on a trip in 2003. His action follows failed attempts to have his case heard in court in the United States and Germany.

Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel threw the ball of the cabinet formation process in the March 8 court saying the alliance should facilitate the mission of Premier-designate Najib Miqati.

In his turn, Miqati should make proposals that lead to partnership and consensus on how to deal with controversial issues, Gemayel told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday.

Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh has stressed he would participate in the cabinet only if he gets two portfolios and said the country needs “tough men” and not technocrats.

“If they don’t give me (2 portfolios) I will say thank you and won’t participate,” in the government, Franjieh told Marcel Ghanem’s Kalam al-Nass talk show on LBC TV network.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is expected to hold a “very important meeting” with a high-ranking March 14 official on Friday, An Nahar newspaper reported.

The cabinet’s structure and “identity” would be decided after Friday’s meeting in the aftermath of days of consultations with several March 14 members, the daily said.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Thursday held talks with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati in Verdun, in the presence of acting public works and transport minister Ghazi Aridi.

Jumblat declined to make a statement after the meeting. However, MTV reported that talks between the two men did not tackle the distribution of portfolios in the new cabinet.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Thursday after meeting Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati that "the phase of making an agreement over the distribution of portfolios in the new government has not been reached."

He instead said that the discussions over the formation of the Cabinet are still underway.

More than 100 demonstrators briefly clashed with police outside the Egyptian embassy in Beirut on Thursday after they tried to break through the security cordon around the diplomatic mission, a security official said.

"Police intervened to push back the demonstrators after they tried to break through the barbed wire in order to enter the embassy," the official told Agence France Presse, speaking on condition of anonymity.