Former Prime Minister Najib Miqati was marveled on Saturday at the verbal campaign launched against a letter sent to the Arab Summit by five Lebanese presidents including himself, but assured that he stands by Hizbullah's fight against Israel saying “it is up to the party” to boycott him.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri and ex-PM Najib Miqati exchanged tirades on Monday in connection with the formation of a new 30-minister government led by Hariri.

Tripoli MP and ex-PM Najib Miqati told a Free Patriotic Movement delegation on Monday that there is a “major gap” between his supporters and FPM founder MP Michel Aoun, whose chances to be elected president have largely surged in recent days.

Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn denied on Wednesday reports saying that he has inked a draft-law that delays the retirement of Army Chief General Jean Qahwaji, based on article 55 of the defense law.

"I haven't signed the decree yet... We're still mulling the adequate solution for the matter," Ghosn told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Speaker Nabih Berri has admonished Prime Minister Najib Miqati during a telephone conversation on his alleged support for the 1960 electoral law that is based on a winner-takes-all system, As Safir daily reported on Wednesday.

During their conversation on Tuesday night, Berri asked Miqati whether he is supporting the 1960 law and has backed off from a government draft-law referred to the parliament last summer that calls for dividing Lebanon into 13 districts based on a proportional representation system.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati, who is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia this month, warned on Tuesday that the so-called Orthodox Gathering electoral proposal threatens the balance set by the Taef Agreement.

The Orthodox Gathering proposal, which calls for dividing Lebanon into a single district and allows each sect to elect its own MPs based on a proportional representation system, leads to “more divisions among the Lebanese and threatens the balance set by the Taef,” Miqati told As Safir daily.

U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson hailed on Tuesday the “sacrifices” made by the Lebanese people in assisting Syrian refugees who have escaped the fighting in their country.

Following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, Eliasson said the Lebanese people are making “huge sacrifices” and the U.N. appreciates and respects the efforts to deal with the situation of the displaced Syrians.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reiterated on Tuesday that France will not interfere in Lebanon's domestic affairs, but fully supports its stability.

“France does not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs, but we fully back stability in Lebanon,” he said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the French Foreign Ministry in Quai d'Orsay in Paris.

The March 14 opposition decided on Tuesday to boycott the parliamentary session that Speaker Nabih Berri called for on November 27 to hear a speech by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

“We will not attend the two legislative session that Berri called for to welcome the Armenian president and to show solidarity with the Palestinian people” against the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, high-ranking sources in the opposition said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

In parallel with President Michel Suleiman's strenuous efforts to find a solution for the political gridlock, head of the Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid Jumblat seems to be following the same path and plans to launch a “rescue initiative” which he will announce in a press conference, the al-Liwaa daily quoted sources close to Jumblat Saturday.

Jumblat's initiative is keen to preserve civil peace and will call on political powers, particularly Hizbullah and the al-Mustaqbal Movement, to resume contacts.