Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Monday a three-day parliamentary session over lack of quorum caused by the boycott of several blocs for their doubt on the constitutionality of the session with a resigned government.

His office released a statement saying the session was postponed to July 16-17-18 to discuss the same items that were put on Monday's agenda.

Electricite du Liban contract workers held a sit-in and blocked the highway near the company's headquarters in Beirut on Monday to protest an urgent draft-law on their employment put on the agenda of a parliamentary session.

One contract worker identified as Hussein Allam set himself on fire but was rushed to Geitawi hospital. Two others suffered burns in their hands when they set garbage bins on fire.

Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn warned on Monday from the proliferation of extremists in Lebanon, accusing Lebanese political factions of playing a role in the rise of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.

Some “Lebanese factions protected him all this time. Had the army arrested him, they would have said that a certain party is being targeted” through this arrest, Ghosn told al-Akhbar newspaper.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Monday that he rejected a parliamentary session that does not include essential items on its agenda but he also refused signing a decree that calls for an extraordinary session.

“I will not sign a decree for an extraordinary session. We don't want more problems,” Miqati said after talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in parliament.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam said he has been informed that Saudi Arabia rejects the interference in his efforts to come up with a new government.

“The official Saudi stance that I have been informed of is the non-interference in the cabinet formation and leaving it to the wisdom of the Lebanese,” Salam told As Safir daily published Monday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Monday that PM-designate Tammam Salam should form a cabinet with “what he has at hand or apologize from lining one up,” he told the al-Akhbar daily.

“A cabinet should be lined-up as soon as possible, and PM-designate Tammam Salam should form one with what is possible at hand, or apologize from his mission,” Geagea told the daily al-Akhbar.

Bahrain's foreign minister on Sunday urged Iran's newly elected president to seek the withdrawal of Hizbullah fighters from Syria as a gesture to try to ease the civil war there.

The appeal by Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, during meetings between the European Union and Gulf Arab foreign ministers, showed the widening shadow of Syria's 27-month conflict that has spilled across borders, involving Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey in varying degrees.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said Sunday a possible extension of Army chief General Jean Qahwaji's term would be “a political and not a military deal,” noting that Monday's legislative session is legitimate although the Change and Reform bloc will boycott it over its “agenda.”

“Tomorrow's parliamentary session is legitimate,” Aoun said during an interview on al-Jadeed television.

The Phalange Party on Sunday called for postponing a three-day parliamentary session scheduled to begin on Monday, highlighting the need for “consensus.”

“The Phalange Party lauds Speaker Nabih Berri's call for holding a legislative session to activate parliament's work and approve the urgent draft laws,” it said in a statement.

Qatar's new emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani on Sunday stressed to President Michel Suleiman and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati during talks in Doha that the presence of Lebanese employees in Qatar is not in danger.

Suleiman and Miqati, who were accompanied by Deputy PM Samir Moqbel, returned from Doha after they extended congratulations to Sheikh Tamim on assuming his duties as the ruler of the country, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.