A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Saturday revealed that Defense Minister Elias Murr believed that the Lebanese army would be able to swiftly deploy its troops in southern Lebanon.

The WikiLeaks cable, dated August 8, 2006, said that Murr informed then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman that 15,000 soldiers would be able to deploy in the South within 12 hours if they are ordered to do so.

Christian officials in the March 14 camp feared during the July 2006 war that the conflict would empower Hizbullah more than ever before, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Saturday.

The WikiLeaks cable, dated August 5, 2006, reported on a meeting between then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman, then assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State David Welsh, Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, his slain son former minister Pierre, National Liberal party leader Dory Chamoun, National bloc leader Carlos Edde, March 14 general secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid, MPs Georges Adwan, Nayla Mouwad, Nassib Lahoud, and minister Butros Harb.

A prominent U.S. State Department official denied to An Nahar in remarks published on Saturday recent reports that the American administration is considering opening dialogue Washington has labeled as terrorist, including Hizbullah.

He said that on the political level, there can be no dialogue with Hizbullah because it is a terrorist organization creating instability in the Middle East.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat did not deny on Friday the recent WikiLeaks report that quoted him as saying he hoped Israel would continue its assault on Lebanon during the July 2006 war in order to weaken Hizbullah militarily.

The MP said: “I take full responsibility for these statements that are a dark mark in my political career and I hope my position today would eliminate any harm I may have caused the Resistance, Syria, and the noble resistance fighters.”

MP Marwan Hamadeh accused Defense Minister Elias Murr of “playing on both sides of the fence” in the political divide on Lebanon, said a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday.

He said in the August 1, 2006, WikiLeaks cable that Murr believed that Hizbullah would be victorious in a Lebanese civil war and “he is trying to save himself politically on the internal scene that would be established after a war.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea believed that turning Hizbullah into an internal Lebanese problem will pave the way to its disarmament, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday.

Dated July 25, 2006, the WikiLeaks cable also quoted Geagea as saying that a ceasefire in the July 2006 war that does not call for the party’s disarmament will “inevitably lead to the renewal of the hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel.”

Israeli President Shimon Peres revealed on Thursday that former Syrian President Hafez Assad agreed to personally meet him in 1996 to negotiate a peace deal between the two countries, adding that both Syria and Lebanon must choose between Iranian ambitions and a peaceful Middle East, reported Haaretz on Thursday.

Peres said that in 1996, "following the assassination of [former Prime Minister] Yitzhak Rabin, the Americans communicated a message from Assad senior, in which he expressed his desire to renew peace efforts."

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan described the memorandum of understanding between Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement as a “mistake”, according to a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Thursday.

He instead suggested that a partnership was necessary between FPM leader MP Michel Aoun and then Prime Minister Fouad Saniora in order to end Lebanon’s political crisis, said the Wikileaks report dated July 14, 2006.

Change and Reform bloc MP Farid al-Khazen had suggested severing ties between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah, revealed a leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Thursday.

The MP also stressed the need to diminish Hizbullah’s military powers, said the Wikileaks cable dated July 2006.

A leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar Thursday revealed that minister Jebran Bassil had informed a U.S. diplomat that Hizbullah intended to take into its own hands the situation of Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

The minister said that over a month before the eruption of the July 2006 war, Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had warned national dialogue participants that the party would tackle the case of the Lebanese prisoners and “therefore no one should have been surprised” with the break out the war on July 12.