The Egyptian Salafist group Ahrar on Wednesday threatened to besiege the headquarters of the Lebanese embassy in Cairo should Lebanese authorities fail to “lift the siege imposed on Sheikh (Ahmed) al-Asir and his companions.”

The group claimed that Asir and his supporters were being harassed “due to their heroic stances in supporting the Syrian revolution.”

Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday warned of “the deteriorating security situation and some dangerous trends that are likely to shake general stability in the country.”

“Stability must remain the officials' top priority,” Berri said after his weekly meeting with MPs, noting that “the deterioration of security will leave major repercussions on all fields and junctures.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced on Wednesday that the cabinet is committed to supporting families fleeing Syria “without any discrimination”, noting that it has become “urgent for Lebanon to receive aid to fulfill its humanitarian duty towards refugees”.

"Lebanon's resources have been exhausted and the country is unable to keep up with the increasing number of refugees,” Charbel said at the opening ceremony of the Arab Interior Ministers' security meeting in Saudi Arabia's Riyadh.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani on Wednesday to refrain from “paralyzing the Higher Islamic Council's work”, stating that an urgent meeting must take place if the Mufti refuses to participate in any talks.

"We call for an urgent meeting to take place if Qabbani continues to reject participating in any talks at Dar al-Fatwa,” Miqati said in a released statement, elaborating that the discussions must be held by March 16, 2013.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee slammed officials on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to divide the union amid media reports that five people were injured in a dispute between protesters and security forces near the vehicle registration authority.

“March 21 will be a spring for the union movement in Lebanon,” head of Public Secondary School Education Teachers Association Hanna Gharib told protesters rallying near the Serail of Baabda.

Gasoline Station Owners Syndicate President Sami Brax lashed out at Energy Minister Jebran Bassil, accusing him of carrying out malicious acts against the owners of stations as fuel prices dropped for the second week in a row.

“We don't profit from any decline in gasoline prices... We urge the minister to reconsider the percentage of profit collected by gas stations,” Brax told Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) on Wednesday.

Corruption scandals have reached the Lebanese embassy in Berlin as a report emerged to the surface on Wednesday that a gang is luring the Lebanese community in Germany to obtain the Lebanese nationality in return for large sums of money.

A report published in al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday pointed out that the forgery is led by an employee at the embassy, who is deluding mainly married couples of Lebanese origin, that he can process their personal papers in exchange for an amount of money.

President Michel Suleiman, who is on an African tour, has appealed for dialogue in countries witnessing turmoil, saying violence does not resolve problems.

“We don't back violence to achieve demands,” Suleiman told Arab ambassadors based in Senegal, hoping that the turmoil would be resolved through all-party talks.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil revealed on Wednesday that the Greek construction group J&P-Avax and the U.S. industrial group General Electric won the Deir Ammar tender.

“We will start producing 841 megawatts instead of 750,” Bassil said during a press conference.

Consensus between rival parties on a hybrid electoral draft-law was on Wednesday not looming on the horizon after reports said that Hizbullah rejected it and talks between March 14 opposition officials and the Progressive Socialist Party slowed.

Hizbullah informed Speaker Nabih Berri that it rejected the hybrid proposal, which a team of experts and MPs from the opposition al-Mustaqbal movement and the centrist Progressive Socialist Party are seeking to draft, al-Liwaa daily reported.