The March 8 forces will begin tackling the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri by the beginning of October, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

A ministerial source told the daily that any breakthrough in the issue of the STL would have to be through the cabinet.

The roads near the U.N. building in downtown Beirut, ESCWA, were closed and traffic was directed to nearby streets on Friday after reports that the premises could be targeted in an attack similar to the bombings on UNIFIL patrols in the South.

Al-Liwaa daily reported that the road east of the building and another known as the ESCWA tunnel was closed upon a decision by the Internal Security Forces’ head of the Beirut traffic department Brig. Gen. Mohammed al-Ayyoubi.

Premier Najib Miqati has hinted that he would visit Damascus soon, his first trip to the Syrian capital since the formation of his government in June, An Nahar daily said Friday.

If the visit takes place, it would be part of other trips made by Lebanese officials, including former Prime Minister Salim Hoss and ex-PM Omar Karami and his son Minister of Youth and Sports Faisal Karami.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat reiterated on Friday that he has advised the Syrian leadership to quickly implement reforms rather than cracking down on protestors.

In remarks to As Safir daily, he said: “The Syrian regime should adopt qualitative and urgent reform steps.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stated on Thursday that the Maronite patriarch has adopted a different approach than his predecessors.

He told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency: “Wednesday’s Maronite bishops proclamation cannot be compared with those of the past.”

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami voiced on Thursday his confidence that the Syrian leadership and people will overcome the current crisis Syria is going through.

He warned after holding talks in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad of attempts to “fragment the region.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Thursday that the Lebanese government is doing all it can to demarcate the Lebanese-Israeli border, overlooking that fact that Lebanon is also bordered by Syria and Cyprus.

He said before a delegation of Zahle bloc MPs that the government should completely maintain the people’s interests by demarcating those borders as well and not simply direct its attention to one side “because of ideological reasons.”

Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji held talks on Thursday with U.S. Deputy Director for Politico-Military Affairs for the Middle East at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Brigadier General John Charlton, the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Qahwaji and Charlton discussed sustained military cooperation between the two countries and Lebanon’s initiative to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1701, it said.

The Lebanese army seized on Thursday goods hidden in five small trucks for the purpose of smuggling them to Syria through the town of Deir al-Ashaer, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said a Lebanese army patrol made the discovery on the Kfarqouq-Yanta road in Rashaya.

Former Premier Saad Hariri could meet with Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat as part of meetings between Lebanese officials, informed political sources said.

The sources told An Nahar daily on Thursday that meetings between Lebanese leaders and politicians could take place on the sidelines of a social occasion in Paris.