The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) commemorated on Friday the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers, remembering colleagues who lost their lives in the line of duty and celebrating their contributions to peace.

A ceremony was held at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura to mark the international day that is observed every year on 29 May.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun urged on Friday President Michel Suleiman to take the necessary measures to address Thursday’s incident at one of the Telecommunications Ministry buildings at Adlieh, describing the event as a “premeditated crime”.

He said after an extraordinary FPM meeting on the incident: “According to the military law on rebellion and mutiny, yesterday’s incident is a crime that was part of a coup attempt.”

The Secretary General of the Higher Islamic Council said Friday that his announcement about attempts by Dar al-Fatwa to file a lawsuit against the Free Patriotic Movement leader was only an expression of his personal viewpoint.

Sheikh Khaldoun Oraymet said in a statement that his remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Thursday that Dar al-Fatwa was seeking to sue FPM chief Michel Aoun for libel and defamation was an expression of his “personal point of view and did not reflect the opinion of Dar al-Fatwa or Mufti” Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea condemned the recent incident at the Telecommunications Ministry, saying it is very unfortunate that some sides’ daily actions are serving to destroy the country’s democracy.

He said during the opening of the 13th session of the party’s general conference: “Such actions are eliminating the people’s interests and driving them towards choosing between matters that are not related to them and their concerns.”

The head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, MP Mohammed Raad noted on Friday that those behind Thursday’s incident at the Telecommunications Ministry were seeking to “cover up several scandals that are aimed at toppling the state.”

He therefore called on the Lebanese army to protect the Finance Ministry “to avoid a repeat of the Telecommunications Ministry incident.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi described on Friday the incident at one of the Telecommunications Ministry buildings on Thursday as unfortunate, lamenting the lack of responsibility demonstrated by the political class.

He said: “The state cannot be built over statelets and each political party has formed its own state under its own authority.”

A founder of the Arab Socialist Baath Party, Shebli al-Aisaimi, has disappeared in Aley, pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper reported on Friday.

Al-Aisaimi, 87, was last seen on Thursday afternoon while exercising at al-Zouhour street.

The March 8 forces said that as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, President Michel Suleiman should resolve the Telecommunications Ministry crisis and force all security forces to abide by his decisions.

A high-ranking March 8 source told As Safir daily in remarks published Friday that amid a caretaking cabinet and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s decision to absolve himself from his duties, the responsibility of Suleiman lies in addressing the issue as all security forces become his subordinates.

An Estonian security delegation toured the industrial area of the eastern city of Zahle where seven Estonian tourists were abducted more than two months ago, the pan-Arab al-Hayat newspaper reported on Friday.

Informed security sources said that “the aim of the visit might be connected with the abductees’ statement in their last video… saying that the Estonian state doesn’t care about them.”

President Michel Suleiman has reportedly ordered Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi to clear a building affiliated with the Telecommunications Ministry from his men after they prevented Caretaker Telecom Minister Charbel Nahhas from entering the facility on Thursday.

Sources close to Suleiman told several Beirut dailies published Friday that after the president studied the issue legally and constitutionally, he told Rifi to abide by Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud’s order to pull his forces out of the building in Beirut’s al-Adliyeh area.