The cabinet did not discuss the thorny issue of civil marriage during its session on Wednesday, the information minister announced, although more than 50 marriage contracts are awaiting approval at the Directorate General of Personal Status.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq had on Tuesday declared that the issue would be discussed from outside the cabinet's agenda after coming under the fire of the civil society.

The government on Wednesday referred to the Judicial Council the case of the deadly suicide blasts that rocked Tripoli's Jabal Mohsen last month, as it announced that the army has “full political cover” as it confronts terrorist groups on the border and inside the country.

“The cabinet agreed to refer the terrorist Jabal Mohsen bombing to the Judicial Council,” Information Minister Ramzi Jreij announced after a cabinet session at the Grand Serail.

General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim highlighted on Wednesday the threat of terrorism in the region, saying that this matter “should not be treated as a secondary issue.”

He told the General Security magazine: “The army and security forces should be properly armed because spending on defense and border safety is an issue that must not be postponed.”

The families of the so-called Arsal captives retracted on Wednesday their threats to escalate their measures, stressing that negotiations with the Islamist gunmen are on the right track.

“Not receiving any new threats indicates the serious manner of negotiations,” the relatives told reporters after meeting with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

More than 12 people were injured on Wednesday morning when several military vehicles were involved in a pileup on the Antelias-Jal el-Dib highway, north of Beirut.

The Traffic Management Center said five vehicles smashed into each other, leaving 13 people injured.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam rejected claims that the Sunni community in Lebanon had created a climate that embraces terrorism and said that the right of veto exercised by cabinet ministers required a new approach.

“All the requirements for a security confrontation are now available and all the needs for a patriotic confrontation such as thwarting any attempt to saw strife have also been guaranteed,” Salam told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in an interview.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed distress over the ongoing presidential stalemate as the Lebanese no longer sense the vacuum at the state's higher post due to the rift between the rival Christians.

He pointed out in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper published on Wednesday that the Lebanese are more concerned with the daily crises.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the road to the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is “safe” despite concerns following Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech.

Berri told his visitors on Tuesday that the dialogue has not stopped and will go ahead in implementing the decisions reached between the two parties.

Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry Jean-François Girault continued on Wednesday his tour on Lebanese officials in an attempt to push forward the presidential stalemate.

A meeting was held between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Girault in Rabieh.

Al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah stressed Tuesday during their fifth dialogue session their rejection of gunfire “on all occasions” and “under any excuse,” four days after a fiery speech by Hizbullah's secretary-general was marred by heavy celebratory gunfire that sparked panic among the citizens of Beirut and its suburbs.

“The conferees underlined their rejection of gunfire on all occasions, in all Lebanese regions and under any excuse,” said the two parties in a joint statement issued after the talks in Ain al-Tineh.