President Michel Suleiman reiterated his readiness to sign the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending in order to motivate the cabinet to approve the $3.12 billion draft that covers the expenses of the first half of 2012.

The president is optimistic that the financial crisis will end once the cabinet begins tackling the 2012 state budget, Suleiman’s visitors told An Nahar newspaper on Friday.

Syrian authorities on Thursday handed over to the General Directorate of General Security three suspects allegedly involved in the 2011 abduction of seven Estonian nationals in Lebanon.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim earlier on Thursday informed President Michel Suleiman that the suspects would be handed over shortly.

President Michel Suleiman linked his approval to signing the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending with the cabinet’s approval of Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s proposal to allocate his ministry with $3.12 billion to cover some expenses of state institutions in 2012, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

A ministerial source told the daily that cabinet members failed to find consensus over Safadi’s proposal during Wednesday’s cabinet session at the Baabda Palace, prompting the postponement of the discussions until next week’s session.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s political aide Hussein Khalil stressed on Thursday that the strong sectarian rhetoric must end if officials want to find a radical solution for the local crises and security breaches.

“What is happening in the country is the result of the sectarian flaring… which has negative repercussions on the country’s stability and the civil peace,” Khalil said in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday charged that “the General Security has become a proxy for the Syrian regime,” voicing solidarity with President Michel Suleiman over the issue of administrative appointments.

The General Directorate of General Security “has become a proxy for the Syrian regime and it acted in a foolish way, as it could have sent a judicial warrant to (Salafist activist Shadi) al-Mawlawi instead of luring him into a trap, not to mention the story of the Jordanian who was exported by Iran to Syria and by Syria to Lebanon in a story that reminds us of Shaker al-Absi.”

The cabinet on Wednesday failed to reach an agreement over the controversial issue of extra-budgetary spending, but agreed on an exit for urgent spending.

Briefing reporters after the session, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said the cabinet “approved contingency funds to cover urgent spending under extraordinary circumstances for each of: the army (L.L. 15 billion), the Internal Security Forces (L.L. 7.5 billion) and the education ministry’s official exams (L.L. 1.25 billion).”

President Michel Suleiman stressed that Lebanon’s stability cannot be harmed as long as the Taif Accord still stands, noting that the clashes in the northern city of Tripoli have been caused by the mounting security tensions, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Tuesday.

He told the newspaper: “The clashes in Tripoli have nothing to do with the Syrian crisis.”

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Tuesday that he would sign the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending bill if the necessary modifications were carried out.

“The campaign against me is useless,” Suleiman stated in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday commended Tripoli residents for their “awareness” that “foiled all attempts to drag the city into a new series of chaos and discord.”

“It also showed the adherence of the people of Tripoli to the project of the state and its institutions by refusing all attempts to lure them against the state, because they believe that such attempts harm the city and the unity of the whole nation,” Hariri said in a statement.

President Michel Suleiman held talks with various officials on the clashes that erupted in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend.

He said after meeting Interior Minister Marwan Charbel: “All sides must be aware of the dangerousness of creating instability in Lebanon.”