A war of words between Lebanon's pro-Western and Iranian-backed camps has sparked fears of a backlash in the Mediterranean state over a "cold war" between Shiite Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia.

"This war of words is further evidence that the Lebanon's internal crisis is intrinsically linked to a regional showdown," said Fadia Kiwan, head of the political science department at Saint Joseph University in Beirut.

A press conference was held on Monday at the Gibran Khalil Gibran garden near the U.N. house in Beirut to send a message to authorities that the suffering of the families of Lebanese missing in Syria has not dissipated six years after they erected a tent to make their voices heard.

The event took place in the presence of the Committee of Parents of Lebanese Detainees in Syrian Prisons, the Committee of Parents of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Lebanon, the Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE) and the Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH).

President Michel Suleiman rejected over the weekend a draft cabinet lineup proposed by Premier-designate Najib Miqati but media reports said Tuesday that discussions have made progress and are now centered on the distribution of portfolios and names of candidates.

Suleiman had remarks on the lineup that Miqati proposed to him on Saturday night during a meeting held at Baabda palace away from the media spotlight, As Safir daily said Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri called for an emergency meeting for Amal movement officials last night in which he informed them that “there’s a conspiracy targeting their relationship with Hizbullah,” and they should work on abolishing it.

He said that the last reports from WikiLeaks were “dangerous” and “poisonous,” what required a decisive response from Amal Movement and Hizbullah, As Safir newspaper reported on Tuesday.

President Michel Suleiman urged the country’s politicians to fully implement the Taef Accord lamenting that the constitution was transformed into a mechanism of division of shares.

“We haven’t yet been able to form a modern state that protects itself and watches over the interests of its citizens,” Suleiman told An Nahar daily in remarks published Tuesday on the eve of the 36th anniversary of the Lebanese civil war.

The Phalange Party stressed on Monday the need to speed up the formation of the new government given the regional and local developments.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “These developments demand that the formation take a new turn that would not necessarily abide by the rules that the current formation is adopting.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Monday that the main problem of the illegitimate arms will remain in Lebanon whether a new government is formed or not.

He told the Central News Agency: “There is a major flaw in the country that should be rectified.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams hoped on Monday that a new government would be formed in a few weeks’ time in order for it to tackle the recent security unrest in the country, among other matters.

He said after holding talks with Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud that this issue should be at Lebanese politicians’ main concern.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat warned on Monday that the recent unrest at Roumieh prison may be the first chapter of a dispute whose repercussions have not ended yet.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The recent events require that this file, which has been neglected for tens of years, receive the attention it deserves.”

Cedarcom, the largest fixed and mobile wireless broadband data operator in Lebanon, has reiterated its position on broadband and 3G services in Lebanon.

"Cedarcom supports the implementation of the latest technologies in Lebanon, including VoIP, VDSL, fiber to the home, 3G, 4G, WiMAX (e & m), etc. and is supportive of implementing transparent regulations and enforcing fair competition on all operators as stated in Telecom Law 431/2002. Cedarcom is against the creation of a new monopoly in wireless broadband services," the firm said in a press release.