French President Nicolas Sarkozy informed Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi during his visit to France earlier this week that the “regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is over,” reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.

The patriarch received assurances from various French officials that “Lebanon and Christians minorities will not be sacrificed” for regional interests.

A number of March 14 MPs and officials on Friday criticized the latest stances voiced by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi about the Syrian crisis and Hizbullah’s arms.

“To give or not to give Syrian President Bashar al-Assad a chance is something to be decided by the Syrian people, not anyone else,” Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told MTV.

Francois Roux, Head of the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, adopted Friday the Legal Aid Policy, which regulates the representation of accused persons before the STL who cannot afford to pay for their own defense, the STL said in a statement.

“All accused persons before the STL have the right to legal representation. If an accused does not have sufficient financial means to pay for his own defense, the Tribunal will pay for his legal representation,” the STL announced.

Lebanon’s branch of the Jamaa Islamiya on Friday criticized Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s latest stances on the Syrian crisis.

“Any person has the right to express his stances and viewpoints, but we were not expecting such a stance from His Eminence, especially that he deduced that any change achieved by the Syrian people would have negative repercussions on the ties among the Lebanese communities,” the Jamaa Islamiya said in a statement.

An agreement over overdue funds owed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, totaling $32 million, is expected to be reached before President Michel Suleiman travels to New York City on September 18 to take part in the United Nations General Assembly, reported al-Liwaa daily on Friday.

The funds could be made through a budget surplus or treasury advance, revealed Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s sources.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hoped that the electricity draft law would be adopted at parliament without any complications, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.

“What happened during the cabinet meeting is positive and approving the electricity project is an accomplishment,” he said.

The electricity draft law on producing 700 megawatts of power will be referred to parliament on Friday for it to be later referred to the joint committees in order to avert any stalling in its adoption.

Ministerial sources told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Friday revealed that the logistical preparations to refer the law to parliament have been complete.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s statements to al-Arabiya television will trigger wide responses locally, especially among the March 14-led opposition that had already criticized them, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Friday.

Sources told the newspaper that al-Rahi’s statements will have an impact on the Christians in Lebanon and they will confuse them.

The political and verbal dispute between the Mustaqbal bloc and Speaker Nabih Berri has forced the intervention of religious authorities in an attempt ease the tensions between the two sides.

Concerned sources told the daily An Nahar in remarks published on Friday that the escalation could serve as another obstacle in the impending debate over the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Any official “who chooses to remain silent over the violations” of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, ISF Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Wissam al-Hassan and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza would be “committing a crime,” Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said Thursday.

“Claims that we have surrendered to Miqati’s wish to keep Rifi, al-Hassan and Mirza in their posts are untrue,” Aoun said in an interview with LBC television.