President Michel Aoun said on Monday that officials disagree in politics in Lebanon and the heat of debate intensifies, but that “does not affect freedom of belief, freedom of faith or the right of difference."

At the first annual Levantine Gathering held at the Hilton - Habtoor Hotel, Aoun said that Lebanon embodies a pluralistic diversity and its role and mission must remain a land of convergence and dialogue, rejecting all forms of intellectual and religious extremism.

A wildfire was raging in the Chouf district of Meshref with reports saying it could engulf nearby houses and educational facilities if not contained.

Civil Defense firefighters and Lebanese army teams battled the large blaze, as the weather recorded above the average temperature level for October.

The March 14 political alliance criticized the positions lately declared by Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil saying he “put himself at Nasrallah’s disposal,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

“Bassil’s remarks at the Arab League and at his speech marking the October 13 anniversary, clearly indicate he put himself at the disposal of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to blackmail other parties mainly PM Saad Hariri,” March 14 sources who spoke on condition of anonymity told the daily.

Protesters on Sunday briefly blocked the vital Sidon-Beirut highway in the Naameh area over unconfirmed reports suggesting that the controversial Naameh garbage landfill will be reopened.

Army troops and security forces managed to reopen the road after negotiations with the demonstrators.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has lamented that the other parties in the government are only united on the approach of “looting the state.”

“How can situations not reach this extent and everyone is witnessing how governments are being formed. They superficially carry a very beautiful label, national unity, but practically they are nothing but governments of contradictions, governments of an arbitrary settlement that brings together parties who are only united over one thing: looting the state,” Geagea said in a speech in Canada’s Toronto.

Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday blasted whom he called “the strongman of the Lebanese system.”

“On the October 13 anniversary, the strongman of the Lebanese system who is monopolizing everything due to the absence of others could have respected the Lebanese Army martyrs who fell on that day on the front without being told by their command that it had surrendered,” Jumblat tweeted.

Remarks by Foreign Minisrer Jebran Bassil about ending the suspension of Syria’s membership of the Arab League have drawn disapproving responses in Lebanon.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s adviser Nadim al-Munla told al-Jadeed TV that Bassil’s remarks had not been coordinated with the premier and “do not reflect Lebanon’s stance.”

Security forces went on alert overnight in two areas in the capital and its southern suburbs after an “Israeli drone” was heard hovering, media reports said.

MTV reported Sunday that an “Israeli surveillance drone” flew overnight “intensively and at a very low altitude” over Ain el-Tineh, where Speaker Nabih Berri’s palace is located.

Interior Minister Raya Hassan stressed on Saturday that the Lebanese "state is the only entity eligible to protect and preserve Lebanon from external greeds," the National News Agency reported.

A ministerial committee tasked with following up on economic and structural reforms met at the Grand Serail on Saturday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

The meeting concluded by announcing an agreement on a set of decisions to be taken by the Cabinet, along with a series of measures to be referred to the Parliament.