The March 14 forces are coordinating their stances ahead of a possible announcement by Premier Najib Miqati that his government would refuse to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, opposition leadership sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that former Premier Saad Hariri, who is currently aboard, is holding large-scale consultations in case Miqati announces that his negotiations with the March 8 forces on the STL funding have reached a dead-end.

The Economic Committees are scheduled to hold a press conference on Thursday to reject the government’s wage boost and call for dialogue despite an announcement by Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami that the cabinet would stick to its salary package.

Premier Najib Miqati said during a cabinet session held at the Grand Serail on Wednesday that the government needed more time to consider the labor unions’ demands.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has reportedly told several party officials that the discovery of spies within the Shiite group’s ranks hasn’t harmed the resistance.

Al-Akhbar daily on Thursday quoted Nasrallah as saying that despite the spying, “no major harm” was done to Hizbullah because of the top secrecy in its operations.

Head of Tripoli's supreme military council Abdelhakim Belhaj stressed that “reliable information” indicates that missing Imam Moussa al-Sadr is buried in a “farm” south of the Libyan capital.

“We previously received information that Imam al-Sadr was moved to Sabha and then buried in al-Qalaa neighborhood,” Belhaj told BBC Arabic.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has said that Hizbullah’s arms have become the backbone of political differences in Lebanon that would have negative consequences on all the Lebanese.

In his 14th report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, Ban said the weapons were creating an atmosphere of intimidation and were a direct challenge to the safety of civilians and a monopoly on the right of the government to use force.

Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin stressed on Thursday that his country’s stance on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri “hasn’t changed.”

“We participated in funding it, but we are against politicizing (the tribunal),” he told An Nahar newspaper.

Ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat clashed during a cabinet session on Wednesday in what was seen as an attempt by the representatives of the FPM to exact revenge on the PSP ministers for scrutinizing Energy Minister Jebran Bassil’s electricity project.

During a lengthy session held at the Grand Serail, Bassil asked Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, who is loyal to Jumblat, to unveil all projects carried out by his ministry, ministerial sources told An Nahar daily on Thursday.

General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza handed on Wednesday a monthly report on the search for the four suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri to a delegation from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, reported the National News Agency.

Four Hizbullah members, Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Oneissi, and Assad Sabra have been accused of being involved in the assassination.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea warned on Wednesday the parliamentary majority against ignoring the will of the majority of the Lebanese people regarding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He said after holding talks with MP Fouad Saad: “The current majority’s ongoing tampering with the issue of the funding of the STL will awaken the dormant strife.”

France condemned on Wednesday the Syrian army’s repeated incursions into Lebanese territory.

The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Syria should respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence.