Head of Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil said Tuesday that even though the bloc “is not part of the new government,” the FPM will do what it can to help the government overcome the crisis.

He pointed out that “we were handed a country that is occupied, under (Syrian) tutelage and lacks sovereignty” and that “we are working to give it back its freedom and independence.”

Lead investigator in port blast case, Judge Tarek Bitar, issued Tuesday an in-absentia arrest warrant against ex-minister and MP Ali Hassan Khalil after the latter failed to appear this morning as a defendant before the Judge for interrogation.

Bitar reportedly accused Khalil of committing the crimes of murder, vandalism and arson, coupled with possible intent and professional negligence.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday launched his fiercest attack to date on Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, calling for replacing him with a “transparent and honest judge.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday charged that Hizbullah’s efforts are focused on “deviating attention from the real cause of the crisis” in the country.

Speaking at a meeting with a student delegation, Geagea blamed the country’s compounded crisis on the rule of Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement over the past 10 years.

Member of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, Hizbullah MP Hassan Ezzeddine, has said that “there is a complete story about the ammonium nitrate ship that entered the port of Beirut.”

“The story could be published at any moment in the media so that all people will get to know what happened,” Ezzeddine said.

The Civilian Court of Cassation on Monday dismissed a petition filed by ex-minister Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoaiter for the removal of Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigative judge into the Beirut port blast.

The Court argued that it is not the right authority to look into the request seeing as Bitar is not one of its judges and that his jurisdiction does not make him affiliated with the public prosecution.

Parliamant Speaker Nabih Berri has revealed that he has urged Prime Minister Najib Miqati to finalize talks with the International Monetary Fund and to tackle the power crisis.

“Miqati’s chance should not exceed a month and a half,” Berri said, in an interview, considering that “Parliament will be quasi-idle by the start of December, due to the holidays and to the nearness of the elections.”

Speaker Nabih Berri’s political aide MP Aii Hassan Khalil on Sunday lamented what he called a “very high level of politicization” in Judge Tarek Bitar’s probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion.

MP Wael Abu Faour of the Democratic Gathering bloc on Sunday said “the election of six MPs representing Lebanese expats is a silly propaganda idea that was imposed by the Free Patriotic Movement.”

Lebanon’s national electricity grid has been restored following a total blackout and power supply will increase at the end of the month, Energy Minister Walid Fayyad announced on Sunday.