Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun voiced on Tuesday his objection to the funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, criticizing Premier Najib Miqati for pledging to fund it.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “No one, not even Miqati, has the right to vow to anyone that Lebanon will commit to funding the tribunal.”

Former Defense Minister Elias Murr said on Tuesday that publishing the WikiLeaks cables were behind the rift with President Michel Suleiman, but things are back to normal.

“Things are back on track and better than before,” Murr told An Nahar newspaper.

President Michel Suleiman stressed that the national dialogue will be held at Baabda palace but did not give any timeframe “because the two sides of dialogue haven’t yet reached consensus.”

In an interview with el-Shark daily published on Tuesday, Suleiman said that the only item on the dialogue’s agenda is the national defense strategy.

The government is expected to discuss the appointment of the head of the Lebanese University on Wednesday along with 150 items on the agenda and 8 additional topics distributed to ministers on Monday.

The cabinet session at Baabda palace is expected to last for several hours or the discussion of several items could be postponed for another session over the packed agenda, An Nahar daily expected on Tuesday.

President Michel Suleiman criticized on Monday media reports that don’t necessarily reflect the actual ties between various political leaders and authorities.

He stressed: “All sides should halt their heated rhetoric over media reports that often lack accuracy.”

The cabinet is not expected to make new appointments to state positions this week amid a dispute inside the government over Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun’s insistence to give the majority of Christian shares to his parliamentary Change and Reform bloc.

Ministerial sources told several Beirut dailies that the appointments are not on the agenda of the cabinet that is scheduled to meet on Wednesday. But ministers could raise the issue if ongoing consultations lead to an agreement on the name of the president of the Higher Judicial Council.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Saturday that his visit to the United States is simply a pastoral one.

He said: “I am not a man of politics or a man of state.”

A congressional delegation arrived in Lebanon on Friday where it held talks with a number of officials including President Michel Suleiman, said the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

It traveled to Lebanon as part of a broader Middle East mission and a continuation of the partnership between the U.S. Congress and the Lebanese parliament, it stated.

March 8 forces are holding onto their stance refusing to pay Lebanon’s dues to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Thursday.

Sources told the daily that the funding of the STL, that is expected to be tackled by the cabinet soon, will not be approved whether it was discussed during a session or away from the media spotlight.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has informed President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri that he hadn’t asked for an appointment with President Barack Obama amid reports that the U.S. administration had snubbed him over his controversial remarks on Hizbullah’s arms and the situation in Syria.

As Safir daily said Wednesday that al-Rahi informed Suleiman and Berri about the issue during the lunch banquet thrown in the patriarch’s honor in Msayleh on Monday.