Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem urged U.S. not to use Syria “as a hostage for the Lebanese situation or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” stressing that Damascus was ready to make a peace agreement with Israel.

In a WikiLeaks cable dated January 2, 2008, al-Muallem discussed with U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and U.S. official Patrick Kennedy the Syrian cooperation with France to seek a political solution in Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said on Monday that the Lebanese officials are paralyzing the state while the citizens are trying to preserve it.

Al-Rahi expressed his regret that leaders have neglected the people’s demands and their rights.

Caretaker Defense Minister Elias Murr stressed that Hizbullah planned to kill him, in addition to former Premier Fouad Saniora, and Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, according to a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published in al-Akhbar on Monday.

The WikiLeaks cable dated May 14, 2008 reported about a meeting between Murr, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Maj. Gen. Robert Allardice, Director of Strategy, Plans and Policy for the U.S. Military Central Command, and former U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison.

Syria and Iran will turn Lebanon into a second Gaza, feared Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri on May 15, 2008, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in al-Akhbar newspaper on Monday.

He made his statements during a meeting with then U.S. Charge d’Affaires Michele Sison in the aftermath of Hizbullah’s May 7, 2008, takeover of Beirut, said the WikiLeaks cable.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati has allegedly said that he committed two mistakes when he formed the technocrat cabinet in 2005.

According to a WikiLeaks cable published by al-Joumhouria daily on Monday, Miqati said the first mistake was to give the Labor Ministry portfolio to Trad Hamadeh.

The Lebanese Consul-General to Sydney has reportedly come to Lebanon after a warning he would be arrested if he failed to turn up at an Australian court hearing.

A warrant for Robert Naoum’s arrest is now in the process of being issued after he ignored an order to appear in court over legal and court expenses he incurred in a failed defamation action against a Sydney journalist, said the Sydney Morning Herald.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati rejected attempts to throw the cabinet delay ball in his court, deciding to give consultations more time after Speaker Nabih Berri informed him that a de facto government would lead to negative repercussions, As Safir daily reported Monday.

Miqati’s circles told the newspaper that Miqati complied with the demand of Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat to back off from a plan to announce a de facto cabinet.

The Parliamentary public works committee will hold a meeting on Tuesday to seek a solution for the constant rise in fuel prices, An Nahar newspaper said on Monday.

The head of the committee, MP Mohammed Qabbani, told the daily that the subsidy would encourage the Lebanese to make public transportation at least 70% of their transport means.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant has said that Paris should congratulate itself for helping Lebanon and Syria establish diplomatic relations.

In an interview published by As Safir daily on Monday, Gueant said: “You know that France is attached to Lebanon for historical reasons. Talks (by France) with Damascus helped the formation of a Lebanese government and the election of a president.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has lamented that the Lebanese were watching the regional turmoil at a time when they are bickering on the interior ministry portfolio rather than speeding up the formation of the new cabinet.

Berri’s visitors told An Nahar and As Safir newspapers that the speaker wondered how Lebanese officials were still busy fighting on the portfolio amid dramatic developments in the region.