Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Thursday that all parties should play a unifying role in Lebanon in the current difficult circumstances, as a Hizbullah delegation criticized from Diman the memo submitted by the March 14 forces to President Michel Suleiman.

During the meeting that was also attended by member of the Muslim-Christian Council Hareth Shehab, al-Rahi called for openness through the coexistence in the country.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee, a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees, held a nationwide strike on Thursday to protest the cabinet’s delay in approving the new wages scale.

“The SCC is stronger than you deem,” Head of Association of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Hanna Gharib said during a sit-in held at the premises of the Ministry of Education in Beirut’s UNESCO area, warning that if the cabinet failed to approve the new salaries hike the start of the academic year will be delayed.

Hizbullah is using a training base established by Iran in northern Nicaragua near the border with Honduras, the Israeli radio reported on Thursday.

“The area is cordoned off and there are around 30 members of Hizbullah being trained in the camp,” the radio quoted intelligence sources as saying.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati tasked Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi to prepare a feasibility study on the possibility of operating the Qlaiaat airport in the North, An Nahar daily reported Thursday.

The suggestion to operate the Rene Moawad airport was made during a cabinet session held at Baabda Palace by Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi to allow Middle East Airlines to use it, it said.

Sharp differences among cabinet members over the new wages scale forced the postponement of the controversial issue as ministers were divided between those holding onto a deal agreed with the public sector and others arguing that the percentage hike should be decreased as the state treasury can’t endure it, local newspapers reported on Thursday.

The cabinet session on Wednesday witnessed sharp debate between Hizbullah and AMAL Movement ministers and President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and National Struggle Front ministers, who are loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, over the percentage of the new salaries increase for the public sector employees.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed on Thursday that Lebanese Armed Forces will coordinate through a special operations room in an unprecedented way to protect Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Lebanon next week.

In remarks to An Nahar daily, Charbel said: “All security agencies led by the army and the presidential guards have taken all precautionary measures and put coordinated plans to protect the convoy of the pope.”

A Lebanese delegation interrogated Moammar Gadhafi’s spy chief Abdullah al-Senussi in Mauritania on Wednesday ahead of his extradition to Libya, a well-informed source said.

Senussi, Gadhafi's brother-in-law and feared former right-hand man, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and Lebanese authorities believe he might have information about the 1978 disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two companions while on a visit to Libya.

The March 14 forces on Wednesday announced the creation of a permanent consultative body aimed at confronting the threats facing Lebanon, urging President Michel Suleiman and “all the free, loyal Lebanese” to take part in defending the country.

“The conferees agreed that there are four main threats that require political, popular and parliamentary mobilization before it is too late,” said a statement issued after a broad meeting for the March 14 forces in Maarab.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee on Wednesday declared that the public sector will stage a general strike tomorrow, Thursday over the government’s failure to approve the new wage scale.

The SCC will also stage sit-ins at 10:00 a.m. outside all state institutions to protest the delay in approving the new scale.

Security forces have been placed on alert ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon, the visit's coordinator said on Wednesday.

"All Lebanese security organizations are on a state of alert poised to protect His Holiness the Pope," who will travel to Lebanon September 14-16, said Father Abdo Abou Kasm.