The army began deploying in the Bekaa region on Wednesday as part of a security plan to combat lawlessness in the area, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the deployment began at 3:00 a.m. where soldiers began taking up positions at intersections and roads leading to towns.

The transportation sector staged on Wednesday a strike to protest the soaring fuel prices and demand the cabinet to cap rising gasoline prices.

“We will hold on to our rights,” head of the Transportation Drivers Union Marwan Fayyad told protesters.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel rejected on Wednesday accusations that authorities are not capable of controlling Roumieh prison, revealing that there are only two security guards involved in the prison break carried out by three members of Fatah al-Islam.

Charbel said in comments published in al-Liwaa that some Internal Security Forces members tasked with guarding the facility are “incompetent” as most of them were appointed through their connections not based on their efficiency.

A dispute emerged on Tuesday between Prime Minister Najib Miqati and other ministers over the Hizbullah drone that was launched over Israel on October 6, reported As Safir on Wednesday.

March 8 sources told the daily that Miqati's opinion on the drone “reflects his own view and not that of the government and therefore it is not binding.”

United Nations and Arab League envoy to end the Syrian crisis Lakhdar Brahimi held talks on Wednesday with senior Lebanese officials on the conflict in the neighboring country, warning the unrest there will inevitably spread to the region.

He hoped that the ceasefire set for the Eid al-Adha holiday “will pave the way for a permanent solution to the crisis.”

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday that he is exerting efforts and contacts with Lebanese foes to reach a convenient electoral law that is compatible with the Taef accord, local newspapers reported.

“If I reach a result, then I will refer it to the electoral subcommittee,” Berri said.

The controversial issue of the new wages scale for public employees is ongoing as the Syndicate Coordination Committee threatened to stage a nationwide strike on Thursday while local newspapers reported that the cabinet isn't expected to resolve the dispute during its session at the Baabda Palace on Wednesday.

An Nahar newspaper reported that the government will delay referring the new salaries scale as it didn't find the appropriate resources to fund it.

The March 14 camp and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat are expected to resume contacts in a hope to reach an agreement over a proposal to adopt small-sized electoral districts during the 2013 parliamentary elections, reported An Nahar daily on Wednesday.

Sources from the camp told the daily that even though the MP is still opposed to the small-sized districts, he is open to dialogue that could introduce amendments to the electoral draft law proposed by the opposition.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday stressed that any retaliation to Israel's violations must enjoy “national consensus,” after Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah boasted Thursday that his group had sent a drone over Israel and noted that Hizbullah has the right to keep sending UAVs as long as Israel is violating Lebanon's airspace.

“The effectiveness of any Lebanese stance or military action in the face of Israel's violations … must not happen without national consensus, in terms of both the timing and the method,” Miqati said at the beginning of a cabinet session at the Grand Serail.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc rejected on Tuesday Hizbullah's acknowledgment of launching a drone into Israeli airspace, considering this incident a violation of the Lebanese state's sovereignty.

In a statement released after the bloc's weekly meeting, Mustaqbal MPs said the incident “is a clear defiance of the president's stances and is meant to serve Iranian interests only”.