Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun accused on Tuesday the Mustaqbal bloc of seeking to obstruct the state’s functioning, labeling its members as “liars and hypocrites.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “They all make personal attacks. This is defamation and not tackling the problem.”

More than 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside the United Nations' offices in Beirut on Tuesday in a show of support for a Palestinian bid to secure full U.N. membership.

"We are here to show our support for Palestine's right to be recognized as a state, a right that is stipulated by international law," said Kazem Hassan, one of the organizers of the joint rally by Lebanese and Palestinians.

Speaker Nabih Berri called parliament to session on Thursday in order for it to address various pending issues, including the electricity file.

He also called on the joint parliamentary committees to convene on Wednesday in order to tackle the electricity draft law.

Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem accused the March 14 forces on Tuesday of acting in a way that serves the U.S.-Israeli project.

“I don’t like to mention much what the March 14 group is doing as a conspiracy,” Qassem told Iran’s Fars news agency. “But it acts in a way that whether willingly or unwillingly serves the Israeli-American project.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is demanding an apology from French Ambassador Denis Pietton before setting a date to meet with him, Bkirki sources told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily on Tuesday.

“Al-Rahi will not set a date for a meeting with Ambassador Denis Pietton if the latter decides to meet him,” the sources said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has cancelled his visit to the Western Bekaa on Sept. 24 for security reasons, al-Akhbar daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said that security sources advised Aoun to cancel the visit after a series of security incidents shook the region.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said on Tuesday that Lebanon has no choice but to pay its share of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon funds.

“Lebanon has commitments … I think it would implement its commitments towards the tribunal,” Williams told al-Joumhouria daily. He said the Lebanese government would pay its dues because it “has no other choice.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is expected to meet with his Cypriot counterpart Markos Kyprianou ahead of the U.N. General Assembly opening Wednesday in New York.

“Mansour had clear directions from President Michel Suleiman to meet his Cypriot counterpart,” a diplomatic source told As Safir newspaper.

The Internal Security Forces killed two accomplices of the alleged mastermind behind the kidnapping of seven Estonians during clashes in the area of al-Bireh in Rashaya at midnight, media reports said Tuesday.

The National News Agency said the two men were killed at around 12:30 am after the ISF put iron barricades on a road between al-Bireh and Izza to stop their four-wheeler. But their vehicle veered off its course and hit a wall.

President Michel Suleiman has put Israel’s infringement on 870 kilometers of Lebanese waters at the top of the agenda of his talks with world leaders in New York, including U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Lebanese diplomatic sources said.

Suleiman is in New York to participate in the annual General Assembly meeting. He is scheduled to attend a Security Council session on Libya on Tuesday and address the Assembly the next day.