The cabinet is scheduled to meet on Thursday to continue discussions on the controversial work mechanism in the absence of President Michel Suleiman and the failure to elect a new head of state.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam invited ministers to meet at 10:00 am Thursday at the Grand Serail although differences between the cabinet's members have not been settled yet.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam denied on Tuesday that the United States warned of the repercussions of establishing Syrian refugee camps on Lebanese territories.

Sources close to the PM ruled out in comments published in the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, informed Salam during a meeting last week that his country rejects the establishment of camps for Syrians on Lebanese territories.

The Lebanese army, security forces and the union of municipalities in Beirut's southern suburbs have implemented a large-scale security plan in the area, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The plan, which was carried out on Monday, included security measures around checkpoints and inside secondary streets in the suburbs, it said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday presented three “solutions” to end the presidential impasse, 15 days after former President Michel Suleiman left office with no successor to take his place in the coming six years.

Among his suggested “solutions,” Geagea proposed selecting two nominees from the March 14 and the March 8 coalitions other than himself and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, and voting for one of them at the parliament.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc on Monday announced that it will not take part in “pushing the country towards bankruptcy,” hinting hence that its MPs will boycott a parliamentary session dedicated for voting on the new wage scale draft law scheduled for Tuesday.

Bloc head MP Fouad Saniora explained after an extraordinary meeting at the Center House that the new wage scale draft in its current format has “disastrous” consequences on the state's finances.

The Kataeb Party criticized on Monday France's alleged proposal of a “power triangle” between Sunnis, Shiite, and Christians in Lebanon, which was mentioned during Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “Lebanon has the exclusive right to tackle its national and political affairs.”

First Military Examining Magistrate Riyad Abu Ghida on Monday issued an arrest warrant for detained radical cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri on multiple terror charges, state-run National News Agency reported.

Abu Ghida interrogated Bakri regarding charges of “belonging to armed terrorist groups; training militants on arms and explosives; seeking to create an Islamic emirate in the North; and delivering religious sermons containing insults against the state and the army and incitement to civil war,” NNA said.

United States Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale stressed on Monday the need for Lebanese powers to elect a new president, urging parliament to do so soon.

He said: “Only with a fully functioning presidency, parliament, and government will Lebanon be able to address effectively, with international support, the challenges it faces.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat recognized on Monday “sacrifices” made by the Syndicate Coordination Committee and its “legitimate” social demands regarding the new wage scale.

He told the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website however: “Any adventure in approving the wage scale will have unpredictable repercussions on the national economy.”

Police arrested on Monday a man who is the suspected accomplice of the rapist and killer of a child in the northern Akkar province, reports said.

Local radio stations said that police in the town of Halba apprehended G.M. for selling drugs to Nour Ayyash who has been accused of raping and killing the five-year-old Syrian boy.