The Maronite Church has expressed its satisfaction with the Mustaqbal Movement’s political document on the Arab Spring, saying that it sets the foundation for ties between various Lebanese sects, reported the Central News Agency on Friday.

This development was marked by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi contacting Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Fouad Saniora to discuss the document.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour telephoned on Friday his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem to discuss the developments in Syria, reported the National News Agency.

Mansour said that Muallem had informed him of the “positive conditions that are returning the situation in Syria back to normal.”

The Army Command stressed on Friday that it will “strike down with an iron fist” any side that attempts to harm it, noting that the Lebanese are counting on it to prevent the eruption of strife.

It said in a statement: “The army will not tire in apprehending the sides that seek to destabilize the country, regardless of their affiliations.”

Nine people have been charged with smuggling arms to Syria, announced the National News Agency on Friday.

State commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr also charged them for the possession of arms and smuggling and trafficking weapons to Syria.

The government condemned on Friday the abuse of an Ethiopian domestic worker and called for an investigation to refer the culprits to justice, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq announced.

“The cabinet denounced the violence against the Ethiopian maid in public and called for a probe to refer the suspects to the competent judiciary to take the necessary legal measures against them,” al-Daouq said following a session held at Baabda Palace.

Fatah al-Islam inmates in Roumieh prison have gone on a hunger strike on Thursday to protest an assault against a fellow prisoner, reported the National News Agency on Friday.

It explained that the prisoner was assaulted when he was standing trial at the Military Tribunal.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil reiterated a proposal to adopt alternative options concerning the lingering world oil prices, which are becoming a daily burden on citizens, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday.

“These alternative solutions help citizens save around LL15,000 in gas prices, LL7,000 in gasoline prices, and would cost the treasury less,” he told the daily.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has slammed what he called the alleged “myth” that Syrian President Bashar Assad is a reformist, urging the Lebanese authorities not to hand over Syrian activists to the regime of the neighboring country.

Jumblat told An Nahar daily following talks with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in Paris on Thursday, that the minister is among the rare “westerners who didn’t believe the myth that Bashar Assad is a reformist.”

Pro-Syrian Lebanese parties and Palestinian factions are organizing a rally in areas bordering Israel on Earth Day in Lebanon on March 30, al-Liwaa daily reported Friday.

The newspaper said the Baath party and the Syrian Social National Party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command, Fatah al-Intifada and other factions are coordinating to mark Earth Day.

Syrian authorities demanded Lebanon officially on Friday to hand over the armed Syrian nationals that sought refuge in the eastern Bekaa area over the weekend, As Safir newspaper reported.

The Syrian Justice Ministry sent an official request to the Lebanese authorities demanding them to “hand over the armed groups that were detained in Lebanon,” informed sources told the daily.