United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon ad interim, Robert Watkins, held talks on Thursday with President Michel Suleiman and former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

Watkins briefed Suleiman on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, which was submitted to the members of the Security Council on November 15.

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised appearance on Saturday marking the first day of Ashura during which he will renew the party’s rejection of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He is also expected to address the alleged Central Intelligence Agency spy network in Beirut, revealed a source close to Hizbullah to Akhbar al-Yawm news agency on Thursday.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks on Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

The two officials discussed the latest developments, especially those related to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and regional affairs.

Lebanon will not endorse any potential Arab League sanctions against Syria, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said, as the organization prepared to meet on Thursday to discuss measures against Damascus.

"Lebanon will not endorse any sanctions by the Arab League against Syria," Mansour, who is loyal to Hizbullah, told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) before heading to Cairo for the meeting.

Premier Najib Miqati urged Lebanese leaders on Thursday to hold an honest dialogue that preserves their national unity at a time when the region’s countries are in turmoil.

At the opening of the 2011 Annual Arab Banking Conference held at the Phoenicia hotel in Beirut, Miqati said: “Our main and permanent concern remains the protection of Lebanon.”

Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Sir Judge David Baragwanath continued his trip to Lebanon on Thursday by meeting with the British Ambassador Tom Fletcher, after which the ambassador praised the judge for his “vigor in pursuing his responsibilities.”

Fletcher added: “We were encouraged by the commitments made by the Lebanese leadership that Lebanon will meet its international obligations.”

The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch detained a man on Wednesday after stealing money from the donation box of a church in Ashrafiyeh.

The 69-year-old man identified by his initials as N.Z. had stolen a certain amount of a cash from the box of the church located at the Hotel Dieu hospital.

Hizbullah expanded its telecommunications network in several towns in the district of Zahle after its project failed in the Metn town of Tarshish, highly informed sources told al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

The sources said Thursday that the installment was made in the towns of Riyaq, Hawsh Hala and Hay al-Sellom several days ago.

American Jewish blogger Richard Silverstein has claimed that Israel was behind the explosion that rattled the Hizbullah stronghold of Siddiqin in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.

Media reports have said that the explosion went off in a Hizbullah arms depot but the Lebanese army attributed the blast to a mine or cluster bomb.

The military advisor to Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei has warned Israel against attacks on Iran's nuclear sites saying Hizbullah would retaliate with its Katyusha rockets.

Maj. Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi told Iran's Arabic-language satellite channel al-Alam that in case of an attack by Israel, Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip will join the fighting.