Premier Najib Miqati has hailed the statements made by lawmakers on the first day of parliamentary sessions to discuss the cabinet’s policy statement.

The statements were “part of the democratic game,” Miqati told As Safir daily published Wednesday, saying he would give the appropriate response to the comments made by MPs at the end of the three-day session.

President Michel Suleiman has said it was inevitable for officials to resort to the national dialogue to solve the country’s political problems, As Safir daily reported Wednesday.

Suleiman’s visitors told the newspaper that the president said the politicians could discuss all controversial issues and find their appropriate solutions through the national dialogue.

The Israeli foreign ministry is cutting contacts with U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams over a report that is highly critical of Israel, the daily Haaretz reported Wednesday.

It said the report of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, which was written by Williams, concludes that Israeli soldiers used disproportionate force against Lebanese demonstrators on Nakba Day.

Israel's military intelligence chief has said that Iran has exploited the recent unrest in the Middle East to deepen its influence throughout the region, accusing the Islamic Republic of actively intervening in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and beyond.

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi told Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday that Iran was involved in planning two violent confrontations with crowds that tried to breach Israel's frontiers with Lebanon and Syria in recent months. He also said Iran, along with Hizbullah, is providing assistance to the Syrian regime in suppressing mass protests against it.

Turkey's parliament has approved a government request to extend for one year the Turkish military mission with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

It was the fifth time that parliament extended the mission since it was first approved in September 2006.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday said that accusing members of his party of assassinating former premier Rafik Hariri was a “futile psychological war.”

“Hizbullah is neither afraid nor worried, as some media outlets are trying to portray,” Nasrallah said in a speech transmitted via video-link to a ceremony organized by Hizbullah’s war wounded foundation.

Saudi Arabia “calls on all parties in Lebanon to deal with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon’s indictment calmly and rationally, away from tensions, and to avoid any escalation,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Tuesday.

In a joint press conference with his British counterpart William Hague in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, al-Faisal urged the Lebanese to “work on fulfilling justice and to resort to reason,” hoping the release of the indictment will not affect stability in Lebanon.

Hizbullah has hit back at Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, noting that “he did not tackle any of the presented evidence, as he was not able to refute any of the solid facts demonstrated by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.”

In a statement it issued Tuesday afternoon, the party put forward a “quick summary of Bellemare’s failures in clarifying the tribunal’s stance” on the issue of the so-called “false witnesses” and the file of witness Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari hoped on Tuesday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati had not accepted to head the new government “even for three seconds”, saying that cabinet belongs to Syria and Hizbullah.

Addressing the March 8 camp, he said during the parliament session to discuss the government policy statement: “Act responsibly and don’t blame others for your problems: The Lebanese people will judge you.”

The head of the Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst stressed on Tuesday the need for the new government to cooperate with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, noting that Prime Minister Najib Miqati had informed her that he will cooperate with it.

It’s important for Lebanon to maintain its cooperation with the international court without any obstacles, she stated during a press conference.