Maronite Bishops on Wednesday condemned attacks on Christians in Iraq and Egypt, stressing that Lebanese should close ranks to ward off dangers and maintain Christian presence in the Middle East.

"These massacres necessitate various officials, political and religious, to take measures to maintain Christian presence in the Middle East and put an end to these attacks," said a statement by the Maronite Bishops at the end of their monthly meeting in Bkirki.

The U.N. will not define the Lebanese-Israeli maritime border after the Israeli recent discovery of a major gas well across their border, U.N. Spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

His remarks came to confirm a statement by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar has asked his Syrian counterpart Ahmed Younes to refer the arrest warrants against Lebanese personalities to the Lebanese judiciary but has received no answer.

Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan unveiled to Future News on Tuesday night that the request was made on December 17.

A cigar lounge in suburban Detroit is decorated with paintings and photos of famous people with a stogie: John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill, even the 1950s Cuban revolutionary Che Guevara.

"We have only one thing in common," said owner Ismail Houmani, a U.S. war veteran, who immigrated to Toledo, Ohio, from Lebanon when he was 18, pointing at a cigar in the fingers of Guevara, a Marxist rebel.

President Michel Suleiman visited the Coptic church in Jisr el-Basha on Tuesday and offered condolences for the victims of the bombing in Alexandria.

“This terrorist crime against al-Qiddissin (The Saints) church in Alexandria is a crime against humanity,” Suleiman told Father Rwais Orshalimi at the Coptic church.

Minister of State for Administrative Reform Mohammed Fneish said the failure to reach a settlement before the release of the international tribunal's indictment means the March 14 forces agree to target Hizbullah.

"Not achieving a settlement before the indictment, means that a local team hasn't been a partner in confronting" the accusation that is targeting Hizbullah, Fneish told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.

Hizbullah will launch a new stage of escalation this month when international tribunal prosecutor Daniel Bellemare hands over the first part of his indictment to the pre-trial judge, a diplomat told al-Liwaa daily.

He said the escalation will start this Thursday and last till January 15 when Bellemare delivers the first of three indictment parts to Judge Daniel Fransen.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani is making contacts to hold a Muslim-Christian spiritual summit in the aftermath of attacks on Christians in the region, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily reported Tuesday.

The newspaper said that the summit could be held at the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki end of this week to contain the repercussions of attacks on Christians in Iraq, Egypt and Nigeria.

Hopes to hold a cabinet session soon are dissipating as majority ministerial sources confirmed that efforts by President Michel Suleiman and Premier Saad Hariri to call for a government meeting are still hindered.

The sources told al-Mustaqbal newspaper that Suleiman and Hariri will renew efforts to hold a session whose agenda includes more than 500 items.

Labor Minister Butros Harb on Tuesday rejected accusations that a draft-law that prevents sale of property between Muslims and Christians for a period of 15 years was "sectarian."

In remarks to Future News, Harb said: There are suspicious sales of Christian lands as if there is a tendency to uproot Christians from their areas."