The council of Arab foreign ministers decided Sunday during a meeting in Cairo to support the Lebanese government materially and financially to help it cope with the Syrian refugee crisis.
The council also agreed to ask the member states to share the burden, stressing that the refugees' presence in Lebanon is “temporary” and that efforts would be exerted to return them to their country as soon as possible.

Iraq's transport minister apologized anew on Sunday for a row in which a Lebanese airliner en route to Baghdad was ordered to turn back mid-flight to pick up his son.
Hadi al-Ameri pledged to turn his son in if an Iraqi investigation found he had carried out any wrongdoing and insisted he would personally bear the costs of the Middle East Airlines flight having to turn around while traveling from Beirut to Baghdad.

Deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq stressed Sunday that the policy statement of the new cabinet will be “born dead” if it fails to mention resistance against Israel.
“The resistance is the soul of the policy statement and any statement without it will be dead and soulless and it won't win the confidence of the Lebanese or the parliament,” Qaouq warned during a memorial service held by Hizbullah in the southern town of Majdal Zoun.

Bulgaria has identified a Lebanese man as the bomber who blew up an airport bus in 2012, killing five Israeli tourists, their Bulgarian driver and himself, local media said Sunday.
Israel and Bulgaria have already accused Hizbullah of being behind the attack at Burgas airport on the Black Sea, the deadliest on Israelis abroad since 2004.

Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon stated on Sunday that the Lebanese army “has become a pawn in the hands of the Shiite project” in Lebanon.
It accused Shiite members of the army of taking part in the fighting in Syria, “defying any side to hold those who ordered them to go there accountable for their actions.”

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Sunday that terrorism cannot be justified by religion or any other excuse, warning against the spread of the phenomenon in Lebanon and the rest of the Arab world.
He said: “We fear that Lebanon will become a passageway for jihadists.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi noted on Sunday that the Bkirki charter could help officials end disputes that are hindering an agreement on the government's policy statement.
He said during his Sunday sermon: “We urge officials to rise above their personal interests and seek Lebanon's interests through approving a policy statement.”

A number of rockets fired from the Syrian side of the border landed in the northern region of Akkar, reported the National News Agency on Sunday.
The rockets, fired at dawn, landed in the towns located near the Kabir, or Grand, River near the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The international community views President Michel Suleiman as a factor that contributes to Lebanon's stability and security given the critical regional situation, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anba daily on Sunday.
To that end, the international community will likely advocate that his term be extended in order to preserve this stability and avoid any political vacuum in Lebanon, said a source informed with the discussions that took place at the International Support Group meeting on Lebanon that was held on Wednesday.

The ongoing dispute over the government's policy statement may force Prime Minister Tammam Salam to refer each of the March 8 and 14 camp's respective drafts to a vote at cabinet, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.
Hizbullah will however reject such a move because of the likelihood that the March 14 proposal will be adopted seeing as the alliance enjoys a greater number of ministers.
