Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Friday that he would remain neutral in the political divisions in Lebanon and that it was up to President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to bring him back to the new government.

In remarks to Free Lebanon radio, Charbel said: “I haven't talked with PM-designate Tammam Salam about politics.”

MP Ibrahim Kanaan from the Change and Reform bloc accused on Friday President Michel Suleiman and PM-designate Tammam Salam without naming them of seeking to form a government of “ghosts.”

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5), Kanaan said: “There are procedures to form the government in a parliamentary democratic system.”

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is seeking the quick formation of a small cabinet of around 16 members taking the Baabda Declaration as the policy statement, which will certainly put him at loggerheads with the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance.

Informed sources told several local newspapers that Salam is determined to form the small government whose members are not candidates in the parliamentary elections.

Syria's air force pounded a rural area near the eastern border town of Arsal for the second time in 24 hours on Thursday, officials said.

"I can confirm there was a raid," said Ahmad Fliti, deputy head of Arsal council.

The Jamaa Islamiya on Thursday revealed that Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is looking to form a small cabinet whose members are not “provocative” figures.

"The PM-designate wants a cabinet with ministers who are not nominated for the parliamentary elections,” the Jamaa added in a released statement after meeting with Salam at his residence in Beirut's al-Mousaytbeh neighborhood.

President Michel Suleiman said on Thursday that there are no reasons that justify the latest Syrian bombing of Lebanese territories, requesting providing the Foreign Ministry with the necessary related documents.

Syrian military helicopters had fired five missiles on Wednesday evening on the Lebanese region of al-Ajram near the Bekaa's border town of Arsal, the state-run National News Agency said.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour shied away on Thursday from revealing the details of a letter he sent to the Syrian embassy in Beirut, saying it was part of daily messages exchanged between Lebanon and Syria.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Mansour said the letter delivered to the Syrian mission on Monday was part of the “daily routine process” on political, economic and security issues.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam hoped on Thursday he would be able to meet the expectations of all the Lebanese after completing two days of consultations with lawmakers on the formation of the new government.

Salam made the terse statement after visiting President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace to brief him on the results of the consultations he concluded on Wednesday and which proved that his task in forming the new cabinet will be difficult.

The foreign ministry has sent a letter to the Syrian embassy in Beirut upon the request of President Michel Suleiman, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

While NNA did not specify the nature of the letter sent on Monday, media reports said it included the recent request made by Suleiman to hand the ministry copies of security reports on the latest Syrian airstrikes on Lebanese territories.

President Michel Suleiman called on Turkey to exert more pressure to release the abducted Lebanese in the Syrian town of Aazaa.

Suleiman stressed during his meeting on Wednesday with the Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim at the Presidential Palace in Baabda that such pressure helps enhance relations between Lebanon and Turkey.