Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani postponed on Tuesday the elections of the Higher Islamic Council for two months to allow for the necessary reform at Dar al-Fatwa.

Qabbani approved Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s initiative to postpone the elections that he had call for on April 22 for two months to carry out the reforms in principle and pave way for the election of a new Council this year, the National News Agency reported.

Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel slammed on Tuesday the new official history book that is being prepared to be taught at schools throughout the country, saying that it lacks objectivity and it selectively recounts historic events.

He said during a press conference: “We warn that we will stage educational disobedience if the new book is approved by cabinet because we will not allow it to be used at schools.”

President Michel Suleiman said Tuesday that Lebanon will exert efforts to restore Syria’s membership in the Arab League whose decisions are respected by Beirut no matter what its stance is.

“No matter what Lebanon’s stance is at Arab League summits, it commits itself to its decisions,” Suleiman said at a joint press conference with his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu in Bucharest.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri thanked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for extending the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the appointment of a new prosecutor.

Hariri telephoned Ban hailing his decisions, according to a statement issued by his press office.

Wounded British journalist Paul Conroy has been smuggled safely out of the besieged Syrian rebel city of Homs and crossed into Lebanon, officials said on Tuesday.

But there was uncertainty over the fate of French reporter Edith Bouvier, who was first reported to have also escaped before that was denied.

A 22-year-old Syrian was arrested for the murder of the owner of a money exchange shop in the southern port city of Sidon, the National News Agency reported Tuesday.

NNA said that the assailant, Nasser al-Fares, stabbed to death Mohammed al-Natout, 66, and fled after stealing $5,000 from him at dawn Tuesday.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil urged on Tuesday Lebanese to deal with the oil exploration as an “exceptional” issue that needs to be resolved swiftly in order to kick off the natural resources exploration.

“We have settled the issue of setting a rotating presidency for the committee” tasked with administrating the oil sector, Bassil told As Safir newspaper.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged on Tuesday the Lebanese officials to resume the national dialogue which he said would be the main guideline for Lebanon to disassociate itself from the turmoil in the region.

“It’s a start for Lebanon to set the principles that highlight its neutrality in order to avoid any negative repercussions,” Miqati said in an interview with al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The cabinet is scheduled to convene at the Grand Serail on Wednesday with a 113-item agenda that lacks the controversial appointments of civil servants to posts in state institutions, media reports said.

The government resumed its functions on Monday for the first time since Feb. 1 when Premier Najib Miqati suspended the sessions after he bickered with ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun following accusations that he named candidates for top posts reserved for Christians without consulting them.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed Tuesday that a controversial extra-budgetary spending would be resolved through the adoption of a $5.9 billion spending bill first to pave way for a solution to $11 billion spent between 2006 and 2009.

In remarks to As Safir daily, Berri said that parliament should “first legalize the $5.9 billion, which the opposition March 14 forces had initially agreed to, so that the $11 billion problem could be resolved.”