Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stressed on Wednesday the need for the March 14 camp to adopt more organized and practical approaches, saying that it should take “clearer positions on Hizbullah’s arms, Palestinian refugees’ naturalization, and other contentious issues.”

He added before a student delegation: “March 14, 2011, will be an opportunity to announce our commitment to independence, sovereignty, and limiting arms possession to the Lebanese army and security forces.”

The Lebanese government has been aware of the gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea since 1969, reveal al-Balad French on Wednesday.

A source close to the White House said that the United States also knew of them.

France announced on Wednesday that it does not interfere in the government formation process in Lebanon, stressing however that the new Cabinet should respect the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero stated that his country has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Lebanese institutions functioning independently and democratically.

The March 14 general-secretariat on Wednesday “strongly condemned” four caretaker ministers for turning down requests from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor to provide information and documents, saying this was tantamount to non-cooperation with the STL.

If Ministers Ghazi Aridi, Jebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas remain adamant in not cooperating with Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, they and their party backers would have to confront the Lebanese public which is calling for holding accountable ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassins, said the general-secretariat following its weekly meeting.

The Council of Maronite Bishops announced on Wednesday that the Synod of Maronite bishops will meet starting March 9 at 6:00 pm to elect a new patriarch.

Last week, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir who is holding the post since 1986. The 90-year-old cardinal cited his old age in comments to the Lebanese media when he handed in his resignation.

Four caretaker ministers have turned down requests from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor to provide information and documents, in breach of the cooperation protocol signed with the U.N., sources close to the STL told the English-language The Daily Star.

The requests made by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare were sent last month from his office in Beirut to caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, who passed them on to Ministers Ghazi Aridi, Jebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas on February 24, the newspaper said Tuesday.

The crumbling of Moammar Gadhafi's regime could shed light on one of the most enduring mysteries in Lebanon: the fate of Moussa al-Sadr, a popular Shiite cleric who vanished 33 years ago during a trip to Libya.

Since the uprising began, members of Libya's opposition have broken a three-decade silence on the issue, with some saying the 82-year-old cleric is languishing in a Libyan prison.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Syria’s relations with Iran and Hizbullah are not in the interest of Damascus in the long-run.

That’s why Washington sent a new ambassador to Damascus, Clinton said during a testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

A cabinet formula was proposed by Premier-designate Najib Miqati during a meeting between Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil and the advisors of Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, An Nahar daily said Wednesday.

The newspaper said the proposed 30 seats in the new cabinet are divided as follows:

The Lebanese-Canadian Bank will be sold soon following U.S. accusations that LCB was laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in drug profits for a cocaine smuggling organization with ties to Hizbullah, An Nahar daily reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said that the Central Bank’s assurance of finding a solution to the crisis will be interpreted in the sale of the bank for 500-600 million dollars.