Paris - Naharnet Exclusive Report

Officials concerned with Lebanese affairs in the French administration assured on Wednesday that the Saudi Arabian donation to the military institution has taken its first steps towards implementation.

Washington on Tuesday hit out at Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for laying a wreath of flowers on the tomb of slain Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh during his latest visit to Beirut.

“The United States condemns the decision taken by Zarif ... to place a wreath at the grave of Imad Mughniyeh, a former leader of Lebanese Hizbullah responsible for heinous acts of terrorism that killed hundreds of innocent people, including Americans,” U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said in a statement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday warned against forming a cabinet containing representatives of both the March 8 and March 14 rival political camps.

“An active cabinet that can pull Lebanon out of this dangerous abyss can only be a cabinet driven by a single horse in the right direction and call it whatever you want to call it,” said Geagea at a rally titled “Era of Justice” that was held in Maarab on the occasion of the imminent start of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon trial.

Naharnet feature

President Michel Suleiman's recent positions and political choices have sparked debates between the various Lebanese political factions. The president, who may have been “consensually” elected in 2008 through the Doha Accord that was brought about by Hizbullah's actions on May 7, 2008, is now in a semi-overt confrontation with the party over its internal and strategic choices.

Ahmad Jarba, the leader of Syria's opposition National Coalition, said Sunday that the U.S.-led "Friends of Syria" grouping had agreed that President Bashar Assad and his family will have no role in the country's future.

Jarba did not announce whether or not the opposition would take part in peace talks with representatives of Assad's regime due to start next week in Switzerland.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun rejected on Tuesday President Michel Suleiman's suggestion to form a neutral government, saying that nonpartisan ministers “have no opinions.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “Threats to form a neutral cabinet make it unconstitutional.”

President Michel Suleiman on Monday condemned attempts to link the cabinet formation process to the May presidential election, wondering why can't the Lebanese have a “neutral government” after 10 months of political vacuum.

“Should we fail to form an all-embracing political cabinet, don't people have the right to contribute to the formation of a neutral government? In the absence of consensus on an inclusive cabinet, do we have to stay without a cabinet?” Suleiman wondered in a televised speech he delivered at the Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture in Beirut.

Al-Manar television on Friday broadcast a video showing how the booby-trapped Grand Cherokee exploded Thursday in the middle of a street in Haret Hreik.

The video, which was captured by a security camera in the area, shows how the car's driver was moving forward in a hesitant manner. At a certain point, he swiftly steers left after making a right turn.

Residents of several border towns in Akkar on Friday heard the sound of a powerful explosion that came from across the frontier with Syria.

“The sound of the blast was very strong and plumes of smoke have engulfed the area in a horrific way,” Akkar residents told Naharnet.

Shelling from Syria Thursday wounded nine Syrian fighters on the Lebanese border who had fled fighting in their country, a security source said.

"Nine Syrians were wounded as a result of cross-border artillery shelling from Syria that struck the area of Khirbet Dawoud in the Arsal countryside," the source told Agence France Presse.