President Michel Suleiman has called for democratic changes in the region but without bloodshed saying democracy should be achieved through peaceful means.

On his way back to Beirut after extending condolences to Saudi King Abdullah over the death of the crown prince, Suleiman told An Nahar’s reporter: “There is no escape from democracies in the Arab world but such democracies should be (achieved) through peaceful means away from bloodshed.”

The March 14-led opposition stressed the need to resume dialogue in Lebanon but among members of the “new parliamentary majority camp,” al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported on Thursday.

March 14 leadership sources told the daily in comments on Speaker Nabih Berri’s call for all-party talks, that “the dialogue is a vital necessity, but among the new majority camp… amid the disputes that proved they are incapable of resolving even the smallest issues.”

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah discussed with Syrian President Bashar Assad the stance of the Lebanese parliamentary majority from the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that Nasrallah visited Damascus around 10 days ago. Discussions between the two men focused on the regional developments and the March 8 forces’ rejection to fund the STL.

German authorities Wednesday freed two men initially suspected last month of acquiring chemicals for a possible bombing ahead of the September 11, 2001 attacks' anniversary and a papal visit.

Prosecutors pressed no charges against the men, a 24-year-old German of Lebanese origin and a 28-year-old Palestinian from the Gaza Strip.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Wednesday noted that “the Special Tribunal for Lebanon was established for the sake of fulfilling justice and putting an end to political assassinations in Lebanon.”

The U.N.-backed STL, probing the 2005 assassination of Hariri’s father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri, was also established to “put an end to the era of using force to impose political choices and employing terrorism to take revenge on political rivals,” Hariri said.

Visiting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jake Walles, held talks on Wednesday with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

The U.S. official had held talks on Tuesday with a number of Lebanese officials to discuss the political, security, and economic situation in Lebanon, as well as the current situation in Syria, it added.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher reiterated on Wednesday the UK’s commitment to Lebanon.

He revealed after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the premier will travel to London on November 7 where he is scheduled to meet with his British counterpart David Cameron.

The head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Defense Office Francois Roux assigned a primary duty counsel and a co-counsel to each of the accused, pursuant to the Trial Chamber’s scheduling order of 20 October 2011, announced the STL in a statement on Wednesday.

“The purpose of these assignments is to ensure that the rights and interests of the accused are individually protected while the Trial Chamber considers whether to initiate in absentia proceedings,” it explained.

Security forces arrested on Wednesday a thief who robbed a grocery store in Maameltein in the Keserouan district two and a half hours after he committed the crime, reported the National News Agency.

It said that at 1:00 am Wednesday, the suspect and an accomplice robbed LL 1.4 million, as well as mobile phone recharge cards, through the use of force and then escaped in a car that was parked by the store.

In the wake of Syrian army cross-border raids into east Lebanon that left three dead, tension has been on the rise in the remote region as anxious residents brace for more incursions.

"The people of Qaa sleep in fear now," said Mansour Saad, mayor of the village which straddles the border with Syria.