Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea voiced on Monday his support for the government’s efforts to demarcate the maritime borders.

He pointed out however that “demanding this right is one thing, while exploiting this issue for greater regional interests is another.”

President Michel Suleiman warned Israel against taking any unilateral decision that may violate international law concerning the maritime borders.

“Lebanon is ready to defend its territories, land and maritime borders with all the possible and legal ways,” he told his visitors on Monday.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi criticized on Monday the parties describing the international tribunal as politicized saying they should provide evidence of its politicization before making any accusations.

“We don’t accept a fake or politicized court,” al-Rahi told journalists at Bkirki. “But should we describe it as politicized just because we oppose it?” he wondered.

The second phase of the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will include the names of a number of Lebanese officials close to Syria and other Syrian individuals, revealed British security sources to the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper.

These names include the four generals, former General Security chief Jamil Sayyed, former head of the presidential guard Mustafa Hamdan, former Internal Security Forces chief Ali Hajj, and former military intelligence chief Raymond Azar.

Civil defense teams are still struggling to extinguish a fire that broke out in the GPI plastic factory at the town of Mazraat Yashouh in the Metn region Sunday night.

They are facing difficulties due to the high flammability of the raw materials used in plastic manufacturing and the thickness of the smoke, which has reached as far as Keserouan and Jbeil.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s television appearance Tuesday night is expected to set the roadmap for the opposition during the upcoming phase in Lebanon under Premier Najib Miqati’s government.

The daily An Nahar Monday reported that he will address all major issues in Lebanon, especially the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has reiterated that the cabinet was not entitled to act on the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, saying however that Lebanese judicial authorities were cooperating with the court to find the suspects.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published Monday, Charbel said: “The protocol signed between Lebanon and the international tribunal states that judicial police would carry out the necessary investigation to arrest the suspects.”

Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet is facing not only the challenge of commitment to the international tribunal but also Lebanon’s implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, Lebanese official sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Monday that the government’s challenge is to meet the requirements of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon after the indictment that it issued in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil is expected on Monday to ask both President Michel Suleiman and Premier Najib Miqati to place the issue of Lebanon’s maritime border with Israel on the agenda of the cabinet meeting this week.

On Sunday, Bassil said that Beirut will not give up its maritime rights. His comment came after Israel's cabinet approved a map of the Jewish state's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon to be submitted for a U.N. opinion.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour and diplomatic sources have calmed Lebanese fears that Israel would drill for oil and natural gas in Lebanese waters saying oil drilling companies do not make investments on disputed territory.

“No company can make gas and oil investments in disputed maritime areas,” Mansour told An Nahar daily in remarks published Monday.