Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MPs submitted an urgent proposal to modify the retirement age of officers in leadership posts in the army, the Internal Security Forces and other security agencies.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday, lawmakers Ziad al-Qaderi, Nuhad al-Mashnouq, Atef Majdalani and Hadi Hobeish submitted an urgent draft law to increase the retirement age to 63.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that the cabinet will not step down, pointing out that the so-called Orthodox Gathering electoral law instigates federalism, cantons and undermines the Taef accord.

“The cabinet has preserved Lebanon over the past two years, which were the most difficult, dangerous and complicated stages that the country had to pass through,” Miqati told As Safir newspaper.

Consultations between Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on a hybrid electoral draft-law have reached a dead end over pressure exerted by the speaker's allies in the March 8 majority alliance, PSP sources said Tuesday.

The sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that Berri suggested instead a draft-law that considers Lebanon a single district after coming under pressure by Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun.

Gunmen went on alert Monday in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon, after a member of the extremist Fatah al-Islam group was shot and wounded.

The incident also left a Palestinian passerby identified as Khaled Ahmed al-Masri dead and three other people wounded, state-run National News Agency reported.

The Phalange Party on Monday pointed out that “the regional situation requires insistence on drafting an electoral law that enjoys comprehensive national consensus” in order to hold the parliamentary elections on time.

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party called on Lebanon's political forces to "close ranks and agree on a 'pact of honor' in which they pledge to preserve the principles upon which Lebanon was built: coexistence among its sects and resorting to democracy.”

The tire of a truck blew up on Monday afternoon inside the Ring tunnel near al-Murr tower in Beirut, and no injuries or material damage have been registered.

Future television said the explosion was heard across Beirut.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat revealed on Monday that the party is keen to reach an agreement among all political parties on a new electoral law.

He said in his weekly editorial to the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “We are seeking an agreement on an electoral law that combines the winner-takes-all and proportional representation systems in order to avert the postponement of the elections.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied on Monday reports that the Lebanese hostages, kidnapped in Nigeria in February, have been killed, in light of the emergence of a video allegedly showing the victims.

He told LBCI television that none of the individuals shown in the video are the Lebanese hostages.

A March 14 delegation held talks on Monday with the head of Oman's mission in Lebanon, Suleiman bin Hamad al-Alawi, as part of a tour to the Gulf countries' embassies to tackle concerns voiced by those states over the situation in Lebanon.

Al-Alawi informed the delegation that the Gulf countries are keen to preserve Lebanon's unity and stability.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel briefed President Michel Suleiman on the preparations undertaken to hold the elections in June amid reports that no candidate had on Monday registered for the polls.

A statement issued by the presidential palace, said Charbel briefed Suleiman “on the security situation in the country and the preparations undertaken by the interior ministry for the elections.”