The Mustaqbal bloc criticized on Tuesday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour’s trip to Syria on Sunday, saying that it is reminiscent of the “hateful” days of Syria’s hegemony over Lebanon.

It also praised in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Parliament’s approval of a law on its maritime borders, which will help facilitate and speed up the steps needed to pave the way for drilling for oil in the Mediterranean Sea.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed pessimism over developments in Syria, saying that the international evaluation of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s alleged reforms isn’t very optimistic.

High-ranking sources quoted Jumblat as saying: “I fear for Syria as a whole.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri praised on Monday Saudi King Abdullah’s position on the developments in Syria, saying that it will pave the way for a new approach in the developments in the Arab country.

He said in a statement: “The latest statements from the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League should motivate the Lebanese government to realize the seriousness of this historic moment.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Monday that he discussed with Turkish officials the situation in Lebanon, the events in Syria and the inter-Palestinian reconciliation.

In remarks to As Safir daily following his return from Turkey, Jumblat lauded the Turkish stance from all issues.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat may meet with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Paris, revealed a March 14 source to the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper on Sunday.

It said that he may hold the talks with the former premier in the upcoming hours before returning to Lebanon.

The military prosecutor general has charged two Lebanese men with allegedly smuggling weapons from the Beirut Marina to Syria, a security source told As Safir daily published Saturday.

Wasim Tamim and Samir Tamim, who hail from the northern port city of Tripoli, are members of the most prominent movements in the former parliamentary majority, sources said in reference to ex-PM Saad Hariri’s al-Mustaqbal movement.

Former premier Saad Hariri condemned Sunday “the slaughter the Syrian city of Hama is being subjected to and all the bloody acts of killing in Homs, Idlib, Deir Ezzor, Daraa and several other cities and regions on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan.”

“These bloody incidents definitely contradict with all the intentions that want sisterly Syria and its defiant people to overcome the current crisis,” Hariri said in a statement.

The Lebanese cabinet should deal responsibly with the indictment issued in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder case or else the country will witness a crisis in its ties with the international community, al-Mustaqbal bloc MPs warned on Saturday.

“In short, we urge the government to act responsibly towards a tribunal decision that received repeated Lebanese consensus at the national dialogue and in previous policy statements,” MP Nohad al-Mashnouq told An Nahar newspaper.

President Michel Suleiman is waiting for the return of opposition leader and former Premier Saad Hariri from France to discuss with him his invitation for all-party talks at Baabda palace, presidential sources told al-Joumhouria daily Saturday.

The sources said that Suleiman’s only “obsession” is to gather the bickering politicians at the dialogue table to consolidate the country against the “regional storm blowing on Lebanon.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat expressed fear on Thursday that targeting the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) will cause a major vacuum in the south which will benefit Israel and endanger Lebanon.

Jumblat told As Safir newspaper that the attack on the UNIFIL is “suspicious” and it might be intended to cause vacuum in the south, which will lead to a minimized presence for these forces in the area.