A bomb targeted a Syriac Orthodox church in the eastern city of Zahle’s industrial district at dawn Sunday, causing heavy material damage.

The National News Agency said the 2-kilogram TNT explosives were planted outside the church’s doorstep and controlled by a mobile phone.

The Progressive Socialist Party on Sunday rejected the use of weapons locally and called for a defense strategy that protects Lebanon from Israeli attacks.

During its yearly general assembly meeting, the PSP said the use of weapons locally “would destroy all national achievements.” However, the party rejected to keep the country weak amid continued Israeli threats.

A Fatah member was badly wounded after he was shot at in the southern refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh on Saturday night, An Nahar newspaper reported.

A Fatah official in the shantytown, Maher Shbayta, identified the wounded militant as Ayman al-Dajjani. He unveiled that Jund al-Sham member Ahmed Aa, opened fire on the man while he was driving in his vehicle in al-Fouqani street.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi stated that the dispute in Lebanon lies between those seeking to liberate Lebanon from tutelage, aggression, and occupation and those who want to subject Lebanon to colonialism and foreign hegemony.

He added: “The confrontation lies between those who want Lebanon to be the example of sociopolitical life based on unity and diversity and those who only see only see Lebanese as a number of sects.”

The Progressive Socialist Party is expected to issue a statement on Sunday supporting the Resistance’s use of its arms against Israel and rejecting their use on the internal scene in Lebanon, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa.

The document is expected to be issued during a general session for the PSP during which it is set to stress the need for the return to dialogue in order to settle the issue of arms possession outside the state’s authority.

The Lebanese army will not intervene in the July 2006 war, announced then Army Commander General Michel Suleiman, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published by OTV.

The WikiLeaks cable dated July 18 reported on a meeting with then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey and then French Ambassador to Lebanon Bernard Emie.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea condemned on Friday the abduction of the seven Estonian tourists earlier this week saying that it “tarnishes Lebanon’s image and it will gradually erode the state’s authority.”

Addressing the inauguration of Beshara al-Rahi as the new Maronite Patriarch, he stated that former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir witnessed the end of Syria’s hegemony over Lebanon, as well as the end of the Lebanese civil war.

Army intelligence and the Lebanese army are still conducting searches and sweeps of the area of the Bekaa where seven Estonian tourists were kidnapped earlier this week.

The National News Agency reported on Friday that a Lebanese citizen was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the crime.

Bahrain has filed an official complaint to the Lebanese government over Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s recent statements last week on the protests in the Gulf state.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa stated that his country won’t be lenient with the threats of a “terrorist organization.”

Middle East Airlines Chairman Mohammed al-Hout held talks on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri during which he informed him on the company’s situation in light of the country’s political circumstances, as well as the efforts to evacuate Lebanese expatriates from the Ivory Coast.

“Improvement on the internal scene in Lebanon will positively affect the tourism sector,” Hout said.