Deputy head of Hizbullah's Executive Council Sheikh Nabil Qaouq on Sunday stressed his party's insistence on the election of a new president, noting that the Lebanese have a chance to choose their next head of state with a “purely Lebanese will.”

“The Lebanese are before an extraordinary opportunity to elect a president for the republic with a 100% Lebanese will,” Qaouq said during a Hizbullah ceremony in the South.

Three children from the Hammoud family died on Sunday in a fire that erupted in a house in the northern region of Akkar, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the fire may have been caused by electrical wire friction.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that the deterioration of the situation in Lebanon led him to run in the presidential elections, reported the Saudi daily al-Watan.

He told the daily: “I would not have run in the elections if I was not certain of the March 14 alliance's support for me.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi hoped on Sunday that parliament would take into consideration the people's rights as it studies the new wage scale during a session on Tuesday.

He said: “We hope parliament will take into consideration the people's rights and the state's capabilities when studying the scale.”

The United States and France are eager for Lebanon stage the presidential elections on time, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.

Informed sources told the daily that the two sides are keen that the elections are held within the constitutional deadline, adding that they will not voice their preference to any candidate.

The army and Internal Security Forces' security plan that has been implemented in the northern city of Tripoli and in the eastern Bekaa Valley will soon be brought to Beirut, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

The plan will soon be implemented in Beirut's western neighborhood, southern suburbs, and Tariq al-Jadideh district.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed the importance of reform at public administrations in order to ensure the success of the new wage scale, reported the daily An Nahar daily on Sunday.

He explained: “My parliamentary bloc will object to the new wage scaled if it lacks clear means of funding.”

The army intelligence arrested on Saturday afternoon in the northeastern town of Arsal one of the main fugitives accused of setting up booby-trapped cars.

"Ahmed al-Atrash, nicknamed the 'Eagle of Arsal,' was arrested in the Bekaa town,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

The parents of students at Catholic schools threatened on Saturday to boycott classes, unless the new wage scale draft law is revised.

"We are no longer capable of paying tuition fees and bearing the expenses of education,” the head of the parents' committees at Catholic schools in Kesrouan, Joseph Bteish, said during a protest held at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square.

Internal Security Forces arrested in Beirut on Saturday an Italian national who is wanted by the Interpol for belonging to a “criminal organization.”

"The Intelligence Bureau arrested Marcello Dell'Utri in a hotel in Beirut,” the ISF said in a released statement.