President Michel Suleiman officially postponed on Saturday a national dialogue session set to take place at the Baabda Palace.

According to a statement issued by the presidential palace, Suleiman informed all-party talks participants the postponement of Monday's session without setting a new date.

President Michel Suleiman is scheduled on January 22 to visit Moscow where he will meet with his Russian counterpart and receive an award on his role in calling for dialogue and opening channels of communication between bickering parties, the Central News Agency reported.

CNA said Thursday that Suleiman's two-day visit comes following an official invitation sent by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill I.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Thursday announced that it will not return to the national dialogue table before the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government, calling for a “regional-international conference” that would help Lebanon cope with the influx of refugees from war-torn Syria.

“There is no alternative to dialogue ... but dialogue must be productive and beneficial for the Lebanese, not a media event that Hizbullah would use as a cover to carry on with its scheme that aims to militarily control the state and the country and its institutions,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Syrian regime has distanced itself from President Michel Suleiman over his indirect criticism of the Syrian ambassador for using the foreign ministry as a launchpad of verbal attacks against Lebanese officials, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Thursday.

The newspaper quoted official Lebanese sources as saying that Damascus has expressed frustration over Suleiman's recent comments that diplomats should abide by the protocol and the foreign ministry should reject being used as a forum for accusations launched against political leaderships.

The cabinet on Thursday voted to adopt a three-part plan to tackle the influx of refugees from war-torn Syria, amid the objection of the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc, who called for shutting the border with the neighboring country.

Radio Voice of Lebanon (100.5) said the three-part plan involves “registration -- which means the counting of refugees -- medical and food aid, and the security and social consequences.”

Contacts are ongoing among the rival political parties over the formation of a national salvation cabinet, media reports said on Tuesday.

Sources told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that officials are seeking to find the suitable candidates to lead the cabinet, which will benefit from a regional and international support.

A series of contacts will be held by President Michel Suleiman during the upcoming days to convince the March 14 opposition leaders to attend a national dialogue session at the Baabda Palace.

Informed sources told the Saudi Okaz newspaper that Suleiman will carry out consultations with local and foreign figures over the resumption of all-party talks on January 7.

Lebanese University contract teachers announced on Monday that they will hold a sit-in throughout the night near the presidential palace in Baabda to demand that President Michel Suleiman, who is currently abroad, resolve the case of their full-time employment.

They urged him to approve their employment during the cabinet session scheduled for January 3.

Minister of Environment Nazem al-Khoury defended President Michel Suleiman against critics, saying it was his duty to give instructions to the foreign minister for diplomats to abide by the protocol.

“It is the duty of the president to give initial instructions to the foreign minister to draw to the attention of ambassadors the need to abide by the norms,” al-Khoury told An Nahar newspaper published on Sunday.

The March 14 opposition coalition will inform President Michel Suleiman about its official stance from the national dialogue session set to be held on January 7 after the New Year, sources said Sunday.

The informed sources told An Nahar newspaper that the alliance's leaders are waiting for the president's return from his vacation abroad to hold consultations and inform him about their position from the all-party talks.