Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas reiterated on Monday that he would not resign from the cabinet, but stressed that he refused to approve the transportation and education allowances decree.

“If some members (of the cabinet) don’t like my stance, then all they could do is to try to guarantee 20 ministers to approve my resignation,” he told As Safir newspaper.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has warned the government that it should assume its responsibilities in resolving the electricity crisis gripping Lebanon or else it would be doomed.

“There are obstacles from several sides,” Bassil told As Safir daily published Monday, reiterating claims that certain parties were hindering the implementation of power projects.

Lebanese citizen Khaled al-Youssef was wounded on Sunday when he stepped on a landmine planted by the Syrian army on the Syrian-Lebanese border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported.

Youssef, who suffered a severe leg injury according to NNA, was rushed by a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance to the Our Lady of Peace Hospital in the northern town of al-Qbayyat.

A U.S. drone strike killed a Lebanese-British al-Qaida official fighting alongside insurgents in Somalia in a three-missile attack, officials said.

Three missiles fired from an unmanned aerial vehicle hit Bilal al-Berjawi's car on the outskirts of Mogadishu, according to a statement from the insurgent al-Kataib media foundation late Saturday. Berjawi was a Lebanese and British citizen who grew up in West London and fought in Afghanistan before going to Somalia in 2006.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged Lebanese politicians on Sunday to put their differences aside and deal with the country’s economic and social problems.

In his sermon, al-Rahi said: “The political leadership in Lebanon should preserve the backbone that guarantees the Lebanese entity’s strong presence … its economic growth.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has said he discussed with Premier Najib Miqati about diplomatic appointments which have been finalized ahead of a government approval.

In remarks published Sunday, Mansour said: “The issue of diplomatic appointments is now in the stage of final touches.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has made major progress in bridging sharp differences between the March 8 and 14 members of parliament’s finance and budget committee after the opposition MPs boycotted it.

An Nahar daily said Sunday that Berri will head a meeting of the committee on Wednesday after he exerted strong efforts to revive the work of the group.

Premier Najib Miqati has held a consultative meeting with his work team on his own proposal of the 2012 draft state budget which will be discussed by the cabinet during two sessions next week.

An Nahar daily said Sunday that Miqati’s proposal lies in a four-page report which sets the foundations of the budget to guarantee a good management of public funds and fiscal stability.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s sources have denied reports about strained relations between the premiership and the seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki.

Ties with Bkirki are very good, the sources told An Nahar daily on Sunday. “Any statement against that is aimed at causing disarray.”

Two Lebanese fishermen and the body of a third were handed over to the Lebanese army through the Abboudiyeh crossing at dawn Sunday after they were seized by Syria off the coast of the town of Arida the day before.

Sixteen-year-old Maher Hamad was killed and his uncles Fadi and Khaled, were seized and taken to the coastal city of Tartus in Syria after the Syrian navy opened fire on their boat.