Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi celebrated mass in the presence of President Michel Suleiman at the St. Charbel monastery in Annaya on Sunday.

Al-Rahi thanked Suleiman for attending the mass, saying the president’s presence was a confirmation that he was holding onto with the tradition that he started in the first year of his term.

Hizbullah’s deputy Executive Council leader, Sheikh Nabil Qaouq, said Sunday that “luring international pressure on the Lebanese cabinet is more than a national sin.”

“It is unfortunate to see that at a time when the cabinet is seeking to confront the Israeli danger, the March 14 forces are luring international pressure to weaken, blackmail and topple the government,” Qaouq said.

A French general specialized in anti-terror operations headed the team that won the release of the seven Estonian tourists in the Bekaa valley on Wednesday, Ad-Diyar daily reported.

The newspaper said that the general is a member of the French intelligence and expert in Lebanese affairs.

Two Syrian officials are among the names included in new arrest warrants to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa reported Sunday.

It quoted sources close to the March 14-led opposition as saying that two Syrian officials will be accused of involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.

The willingness to achieve a stage of permanent ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel is still in the process of discussions, European sources in Beirut told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

They said the test of intentions would later lead to Lebanese-Israeli negotiations under the sponsorship of UNIFIL to reach a mechanism that would pave way for permanent ceasefire.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora has accused Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet of seeking to pave way for Hizbullah’s full control of the state.

“The objective of the current government is to pave way for the full control of the arms party and the logic of armed men on the nation and the state,” Saniora said during a dinner banquet thrown by MP Mohammed al-Hajjar at his residence in Shehim.

Premier Najib Miqati intended to send a friendly message to the March 14 forces by hugging Fares Soaid, the coordinator of the coalition’s general secretariat, during a dinner hosted by the president at his hometown of Amsheet on Saturday.

A guest who attended the dinner banquet thrown by President Michel Suleiman in honor of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, told An Nahar daily on Sunday that Miqati first shook hands with Soaid and then hugged him in front of the cameras.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Saturday that he will seek to launch a national dialogue with the Lebanese leaders to fortify Lebanon.

“We will seek to launch the national dialogue to agree on the defense strategy, especially when the Israeli threats should make us more determined,” Suleiman said during a banquet in honor of Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblad held talks with Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan in Mukhtara, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

The gatherers discussed the general political situation and the latest developments in the presence of Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi al-Aridi.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing into the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri will issue 14 arrest warrants that will include Lebanese officials, the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa reported on Saturday.

Diplomatic sources told the daily that the warrants are expected to include Lebanese officials and military personnel and other people from different nationalities.