President Michel Suleiman on Monday voiced his “wish to see the Beirut declaration as a decisive milestone in the course” of the international Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Speaking at the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Beirut, Suleiman said: “Our approach towards the issue of cluster bombs stems from humanitarian considerations, as we are aware of the repercussions of their use and it is a must to voice our political condemnation of those who use cluster munitions.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday noted that the latest “fear-inciting remarks on the rise of Salafist or fundamentalist (Islamist) movements … are being used as a ‘scarecrow’.”

“These remarks remind us of the old-new approach that calls for an alliance of minorities” in the region, Jumblat said, adding that such an approach “has destroyed Lebanon.”

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday held talks with Lebanon’s Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn concerning “cooperation and coordination between the Syrian and Lebanese armies,” Syria’s state-run news agency SANA reported.

“Assad expressed appreciation of the Lebanese army's great efforts in coordination with the Syrian counterpart to monitor the borders between the two countries, which helped foil several weapons smuggling attempts targeting the two countries' stability and security,” SANA said.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Monday that Lebanon strongly condemns all forms of terrorism as it upholds dialogue and humanitarian acts.

He said in a cable to U.S. President Barack Obama: “The Lebanese people and I sympathize with you at the time when your country remembers the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that took the lives of the innocent.”

French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton questioned on Monday the uproar created in Lebanon over Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s statements from France, saying that it is unfortunate that it caused division among the Lebanese political class.

He said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the patriarch’s visit was a success and it granted him an opportunity to express himself.

Hundreds of activists and officials from across the globe gather in Beirut Monday with one aim in mind -- to rid the planet of cluster munitions which have killed or maimed tens of thousands of people worldwide.

The conference, which runs through Friday, joins representatives of 80 of the 100 or so countries that have signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty which calls for the eradication of the deadly weapons.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said on Monday that he will present a comprehensive proposal on the parliamentary elections electoral law, which was prepared by the Interior Ministry, during a meeting with the committee tasked with drafting the law.

“The committee is formed of party representatives and all the political movements,” Charbel told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The security forces captured two inmates who escaped from Halba prison in Akkar, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

The two inmates were detained in a house in Minieh along with two other people who facilitated their break out of the prison.

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s ministerial council voiced its full support for Lebanon’s stability, unity, and security, reported the daily al-Liwaa on Monday.

It hoped during its meeting in Jeddah Sunday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government would succeed in achieving the stability that the Lebanese people aspire for.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed fear that the political disputes between the cabinet members might occur at every crossroads, especially with the imminent discussions of the administrative appointments.

He told As Safir newspaper on Monday that his position on the electricity project was merely technical and administrative, and not political.