Police in Azerbaijan have arrested an unspecified number of people linked to Iran and Hizbullah suspected of planning attacks in the country, Azerbaijan’s state television said Tuesday.

State broadcaster AzTV, quoting the National Security Ministry, said police had detained people linked to Iranian intelligence services and Hizbullah who intended to stage attacks on foreign citizens in the country.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s position on the March 14 ceremony last week that marked the seventh anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying that he undermined the people of Lebanon.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The negativity that marked his speech only exacerbates the division between the Lebanese.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun revealed on Tuesday that he has not yet decided whether he will accept Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ resignation.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “The dispute over the transportation allowance is now between us and Nahhas.”

The General Labor Confederation filed a complaint on Tuesday to the International Labor Organization against the Lebanese government and Labor Ministry.

It filed the complaint against violations committed by the government and ministry in determining wages.

President Michel Suleiman said Tuesday that the state should from now on work for the public good and recruit competent civil servants rather than be governed by the politicians’ personal interests.

“The efforts in the next stage should focus on turning the state from a state of personal benefits and sectarian and regional division of shares into a state (that works for the) public good and whose doors are open for all competencies in state institutions seeking to achieve sustainable development,” Suleiman told his visitors at Baabda palace.

Former General Security chief Jamil al-Sayyed slammed on Monday Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s assumption of the premiership, accusing him of only serving his personal interests.

He told MTV television: “His position at the head of the government is the biggest catastrophe for Lebanon.”

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon spokesman Neeraj Singh revealed on Tuesday that Israel will perform maintenance operations along the technical border fence in the Aitaroun region in Bint Jbeil, reported the National News Agency.

He added that Israel informed UNIFIL of its measures and that the international troops had in turn relayed the message to the Lebanese army.

An unusual bad smell that has engulfed the northern district of Akkar, causing some cases of breathing problems among the residents, originates from Syria, MP Moeen al-Merehbi said Tuesday.

“The source of the odor is Syria,” al-Merehbi told Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.5).

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed on Tuesday that Lebanon will boycott “Friends of Syria” international conference that will be held in Tunis this week.

“In harmony with our decision to disassociate Lebanon from developments in Syria, we will not join the conference in Tunis,” Mansour told OTV.

A group of Lebanese and Palestinians have set on fire a vehicle and a health clinic of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – UNRWA at a camp in the southern Tyre district.

The National News Agency said the attack took place at al-Shabriha camp on Tuesday morning to protest the death of a Lebanese patient married to a Palestinian man after UNRWA rejected to give her a hospital transfer permit three days ago.