Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet appointed Ghassan Baidoun as director of the investment authority at the energy ministry based upon the recommendation of Minister Jebran Bassil.

An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Bassil recommended appointing Baidoun, who is not a civil servant, although both Hizbullah and Amal movement had other candidates.

Lebanon is facing a critical situation at the U.N. Security Council concerning the developments in Syria since it represents Arab countries especially if it had to object on the presidential statement of the Council.

A high-ranking source in the March 14-led opposition told An Nahar newspaper on Wednesday that “Lebanon’s behavior at the Security Council proves that the cabinet is still under the Syrian hegemony.”

Clashes between Hizbullah and Amal movement supporters in the southern town of Adeisseh were resolved after a meeting was held on Tuesday night between officials from the two Shiite parties.

Media reports said Wednesday that the clashes first erupted several days ago after a fistfight between youths.

The Israeli navy's intelligence chief has said that militant groups close to the Jewish state, including Hizbullah and Hamas, are in possession of missiles capable of hitting all Israeli ports and offshore infrastructure such as oil rigs.

Brigadier General Yaron Levi spoke about the matter on Tuesday at a conference in Tel Aviv University, said Israeli daily Haaretz.

An Israeli ten-member patrol entered 30 meters deep into Lebanese territories near the southern town of Mais al-Jabal 24 hours after a shooting incident between the two sides, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said that the patrol crossed the technical fence and entered the area around 1:30 pm Tuesday. It stayed there for around half an hour after searching olive groves.

Dozens of supporters of Bashar al-Assad attacked a small rally against the Syrian president and his regime in Beirut on Tuesday, landing at least one protester in hospital, activists told Agence France Presse.

A security official told AFP there had been a clash outside the Syrian embassy in Beirut’s Hamra neighborhood between pro- and anti-Assad demonstrators on Tuesday evening but could not give further details.

The Israeli Army Artillery Corps has said it introduced major improvements to the advanced Tammuz missile, describing the new version as “a strategic surprise and deterrence force against the enemy in any coming war.”

The artillery corps described the improved missile, whose older type was used in the July 2006 war against Hizbullah, as the “most advanced and accurate in the world.”

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned Tuesday “the provocation practiced by the Israeli occupation forces on Lebanon’s southern border yesterday and the incursion attempt that prompted the Lebanese army to confront it bravely and send a clear message to the enemy that the border is protected, safeguarded and monitored.”

The bloc also called on the Lebanese army to “remain vigilant in order to deter and confront any aggression.”

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini stated that the situation in Syria may have dangerous repercussions on Lebanon, stressing that Lebanon needs stability now more than ever in order to meet its people’s needs.

He hoped in an interview to Sada al-Balad newspaper to be published on Wednesday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would be able to continue its work effectively and with the cooperation of all concerned sides.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun noted on Tuesday that Lebanon enjoys a deterrent power, embodied in the equation of the army, people, and Resistance, capable of defending the country against an Israeli attack.

He said after the weekly Change and Reform bloc meeting: “This equation won’t end until the Arab-Israeli conflict is resolved, which is very difficult under the current Israeli and American policies.”