Speaker Nabih Berri has not yet launched efforts to end the political deadlock in Lebanon, however the recent meeting between his envoy Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi may be the beginning of such efforts, reported the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday.

It also pointed out to the rapprochement between the Mustaqbal Movement and Berri’s AMAL party, adding that direct talks between the two sides will be held after the February 14 ceremony marking the anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon is not a broken country, but it has been robbed.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “Those who plundered it will meet us in court.”

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader MP Fouad Saniora slammed Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun on Sunday for calling on people to demonstrate against severe electricity rationing.

“What FPM chief Michel Aoun said lately is an insult to all the Lebanese,” Saniora told delegations from Sidon visiting him at his office in al-Hlaliyeh.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s “unprecedented” attack against the political class may be early signs of his preparations for the 2013 parliamentary elections battle, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

Informed political sources told the newspaper: “He is seeking to fortify his position in Lebanon seeing as he has started to detect that he has lost supporters in favor of his political adversaries.”

Speaker Nabih Berri reconciled on Wednesday the March 8 and 14 members of parliament’s Finance and Budget Committee after the opposition MPs boycotted it.

Berri headed a meeting of the committee after he exerted strong efforts to revive the work of the group.

Speaker Nabih Berri has made major progress in bridging sharp differences between the March 8 and 14 members of parliament’s finance and budget committee after the opposition MPs boycotted it.

An Nahar daily said Sunday that Berri will head a meeting of the committee on Wednesday after he exerted strong efforts to revive the work of the group.

Speaker Nabih Berri has promised to put a $5.9 billion 2011 spending bill on the agenda of a parliamentary session during an extraordinary round that lasts till March 19.

Ministerial sources told Beirut dailies on Tuesday that cabinet ministers deliberated the issue during a session held at Baabda palace a day earlier.

Former Prime Minister Fouad Saniora suggested to visiting United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon that the international organization demarcate Lebanon’s maritime border, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He proposed during their meeting on Saturday that the U.N. also determine Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone, which would enable the country to exercise its rights to exploit the natural resources in the area.

Gemayel Meets Ban, Says Lebanon’s Sovereignty over Shebaa Farms Key Element

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stressed on Saturday that the situation in the South is linked to Syria’s recognition of Lebanon's sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in the southern coastal town of Naqoura aboard a helicopter on Saturday for talks with the leadership of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.

Ban was greeted by UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas and undertook a brief tour by helicopter over the Blue Line.