Hizbullah and Amal movement have given the green light to residents near Beirut airport to carry out illegal construction work, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday without naming the two parties.

It said the “de facto powers” have given residents a “tacit time limit” to carry out the wave of building violations on state property mainly in Ouzai and the areas near Rafik Hariri international airport.

President Michel Suleiman informed Premier-designate Najib Miqati that he was ready to give up his demand for the interior ministry portfolio in return for giving the seat to a neutral personality, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted sources following up the cabinet formation process as saying that Suleiman called Miqati on Wednesday to inform him about his stance.

Angry citizens blocked several roads with burning tires on Wednesday night, the same day taxi and bus drivers drove their vehicles in a long queue to protest the rise in gasoline prices.

At midnight, youth blocked a road in Beirut’s Beshara al-Khoury district but then dispersed when security forces arrived at the scene of the incident.

Hundreds of Syrians fled into northern Lebanon on foot on Thursday after they said unrest broke out in the Syrian border town of Tall Kalakh, Agence France Presse reported.

They said Syrian troops encircled Tall Kalakh overnight after a demonstration there and were preventing people from entering the town of 25,000 residents.

A Foreign Ministry source told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency that caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Shami will continue on coordinating his positions with Speaker Nabih Berri, while protocol requires him to consult with the prime minister and president.

This position came in light of Shami’s request on Tuesday from Lebanon’s Ambassador to the U.N. Nawwaf Salam not to approve a Security Council statement condemning the use of violence against protestors in Syria.

March 14 General Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid criticized on Wednesday Speaker Nabih Berri’s recent statements on Syria, saying that they “involve Lebanon in Syria’s internal affairs in a very dangerous manner.”

He said after the general secretariat’s weekly meeting: “His statements expose Lebanon on all levels and we question such remarks seeing as they were issued from a man of state such as Nabih Berri.”

Speaker Nabih Berri questioned on Wednesday the delay in the government formation, stressing the need for its establishment given the difficult situation Lebanon and the region are going through.

He said during his weekly meeting with MPs at parliament that all sides should exercise diligence to confront the challenges facing Lebanon and the Lebanese.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said Wednesday that it hasn’t been informed by Italy about its intention to reduce the number of its troops in the south.

“UNIFIL hasn’t been officially notified about Italy’s intention to downsize its troops,” UNIFIL Spokesman Neeraj Singh told Akhbar al-Yawm agency.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati was reportedly readying a cabinet lineup had Hizbullah agreed to name its ministers but the Shiite group stressed that a solution to the bickering between President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun should be found before making that step.

As Safir daily said Wednesday that Hizbullah’s stance was seen as a covert support for Aoun who is demanding the interior ministry portfolio as part of his share in the new government. But Suleiman is adamant on keeping the ministry which is headed by Ziad Baroud in the caretaker cabinet.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed the need for renewing contacts between caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri and between Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The severance of contacts will only lead to more problems, he said.