The owners of trucks transporting building material briefly blocked the Akkar-Tripoli road on Monday to protest measures taken by security forces to prevent the illegal delivery of goods to the area, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the protesters blocked the road near al-Bayader Bakery after Akkar's police station prevented the trucks transporting cement and steel bars lacking the appropriate legal documents to enter the area in an attempt to curb the rise in illegal buildings.

President Michel Suleiman has tasked former minister Khalil Hrawi to launch a new round of talks with the leaderships of the major political parties in an attempt to reach consensus on a new vote law.

Hrawi told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that he will seek to bring the converging viewpoints of the leaders closer on a hybrid proposal that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems.

President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Sir David Baragwanath held separate talks on Monday with President Michel Suleiman and caretaker PM Najib Miqati.

According to informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the visit comes hand in hand with the preparations to launch the work of the tribunal and with the media leaks that have threatened the witnesses in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case in a bid to scare them off.

A decision by the National Struggle Front of MP Walid Jumblat to challenge the suspension of deadlines applicable under the 1960 electoral law has received the “tacit approval” of President Michel Suleiman and al-Mustaqbal bloc chief Fouad Saniora, An Nahar daily reported on Monday.

The Front's intention to challenge before the constitutional council parliament's endorsement of a draft-law that suspended the deadlines until May 19 was revealed by caretaker Minister Wael Abou Faour, who is a member of Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has reportedly proposed to President Michel Suleiman a 14-member cabinet that was strongly criticized by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat for being a “civil war plan.”

Al-Akhbar newspaper quoted sources as saying that Salam made the proposal during a meeting they held at Baabda palace last week. But when the president informed Jumblat about it, the PSP chief replied: “This is a civil war plan.”

Supporters of Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir on Sunday rallied at the roundabout of Bahaeddine Hariri Mosque in Sidon, which blocked traffic on the city's eastern highway, state-run National News Agency reported.

The sit-in caused traffic jam on the seaside highway, amid the return of holidaymakers from the South, the agency noted.

Two people were killed and five others were wounded when rockets fired from Syria hit the Bekaa towns of al-Qasr and Hawsh al-Sayyed Ali in the Hermel District on Sunday.

“Ali Hasan Qataya was killed and four people were wounded, one critically, when shells fired from Syria hit the center of the Hermel town of al-Qasr,” said Lebanon's National News Agency.

Lebanese Democratic Party leader MP Talal Arslan on Sunday rejected the “approach of the March 8 camp towards the Druze sect” and stressed the need to “preserve the unity of the army, people and resistance” in the Policy Statement of the new cabinet.

During his meetings with popular delegations from several regions, Arslan called on Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to “take his time and consult with all the political parties in the country in order to form a national unity cabinet that can confront the challenges.”

President Michel Suleiman slammed Israel on Sunday for its continued threats against Lebanon, urging the international community to pressure it to end its intimidation.

In a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency, Suleiman said: “The Israeli enemy continues to threaten Lebanon through its overflights in a new and grave violation of (U.N. Security Council) resolution 1701.”

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam thanked on Sunday all the Lebanese who congratulated him on his nomination and said he looked forward to everyone's cooperation to form his new government.

In a statement issued by his press office, Salam thanked all the Lebanese for their support since he was tasked with forming the cabinet earlier this month.