A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party and the National Struggle Front that are headed by MP Walid Jumblat will visit Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday to discuss with him the National Dialogue that is set to take place in Baabda next week, An Nahar daily reported.

The newspaper said the delegation’s expected visit to Ain el-Tineh comes against the backdrop of Jumblat’s announcement on Sunday that only dialogue can prevent a spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon.

Syrian authorities on Sunday released two Lebanese citizens abducted by Syrian forces on Wednesday from the northern border town of al-Abboudiyeh.

The abduction led to an uproar in the region and prompted residents to block the international highway.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has stressed that only dialogue can prevent a spillover of the Syrian crisis into Lebanon, saying the Lebanese have two options: “entering the Syrian inferno or organizing their disputes.”

During a meeting with Lebanese expats on Saturday in Kuwait, Jumblat described the latest clashes in Tripoli as “very dangerous,” urging Lebanese leaders to avoid a crisis in the key northern city.

President Michel Suleiman on Sunday held talks in Kuwait with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah on “strengthening the brotherly and special bilateral ties” between the countries and “the latest developments in the region and the world,” Kuwait’s state-run news agency KUNA reported.

Suleiman, who arrived in Kuwait at noon Sunday, was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Sunday said his party has agreed to take part in national dialogue to underline that “we will not tolerate the continued presence of illegal arms outside state control.”

“We in the Phalange Party have supported the president’s call for dialogue, despite our awareness of the current negativities in the country and the other camp’s intentions, in order to create a national environment that allows the state to address people’s concerns away from the major political conflicts,” Gemayel said in a speech during the inauguration of a party office in the Batroun town of Kfar Abida.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Sunday the government to be up to the task of facing challenges in Lebanon.

He stressed during his Sunday sermon “the importance of national dialogue given the political, security, economic, and social situation in the country.”

Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn stated on Sunday that the developments in Tripoli are jeopardizing Lebanon’s security stability.

He stressed in a statement: “The security plan that has been devised for the city will be implemented in full.”

The head of the Organization of Islamic Conference Akmaluddin Ihsan Oglu warned on Sunday of “dangerous developments” should the violence in Syria continue.

He voiced fears that Lebanon may once again slip into civil war should the crisis in Syria persist.

A school teacher, who has been accused of sexually harassing 11 underage school girls, has landed in hospital after crashing his car, reported LBC television on Saturday.

The teacher, identified with the initials B.S., is being kept under heavy judicial and security protection in a Jounieh hospital.

Syrian pressure on Prime Minister Najib Miqati is increasing on a daily basis and the Tripoli clashes have been provoked by the Syrian regime, a French source told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Sunday.

It said: “The situation in Tripoli favors the Syrian regime.”