President Michel Suleiman voiced on Thursday his optimism with Lebanon’s future, saying that the economy will improve when oil and gas excavation begins.

He said before his visitors: “The regional developments that have been taking place for about a year should motivate us to fortify Lebanon’s democratic system.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea hoped on Thursday that a statement issued by the Syrian National Council would put Lebanese-Syrian relations on the right path and called for U.N. Security Council action if Lebanon comes under attack by Syria.

The Council, which is Syria’s leading opposition movement, said Wednesday that it wants to start a new chapter in the complex and often-troubled relationship with Lebanon.

Syrian security forces killed 49 civilians, including 10 children, in clashes across the country on Thursday, a rights group said.

"The toll for the day has risen to 49 civilians killed by the security forces in several regions of Syria, mostly in Homs," in the centre of the country, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Unknown assailants have set the office of the mayor of al-Sharqiyeh town in Nabatiyeh on fire, burning all the documents and identification records of the town’s residents, the National News Agency reported Thursday.

Mayor Hani Abdul Raouf Shoaib filed a complaint with the Internal Security Forces, which inspected the burned office at the town square and launched an investigation to find the culprits, NNA said.

President Michel Suleiman is exerting efforts to resume the national dialogue between Lebanese foes as he is seeking to convince the parliamentary majority and the opposition to meet, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

Sources close to Suleiman told the daily that he is open to all suggestions and has expressed readiness to hold bilateral talks with various Lebanese leaders on the condition that they become the basis for holding the all-party talks.

The cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal by the Energy and Water Ministry to resume the controversial installation of high-voltage electricity lines in the Metn area of Mansouriyeh-Ain Saadeh, amid a verbal clash during the session between Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

Briefing reporters after the session, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said Premier Najib Miqati stressed the importance of “solidarity” among the cabinet members and the need to avoid any dispute.

The Syrian regime and opposition on Wednesday traded blame for the killing of a Christian cleric and a regional Syrian Red Crescent chief.

An "armed terrorist group" killed a priest in the protest hub of Hama in central Syria on Wednesday, state media said, as regime forces reportedly pounded the city for a second day.

The Syrian National Council stressed on Wednesday that it seeks to establish strong ties between Syria and Lebanon that respect the sovereignty and independence of each country.

It said in an open letter to the Lebanese people: “To this end, the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council should be dissolved and agreements between the two countries should be revised.”

Ambassador Angelina Eichhorst, Head of the Delegation of the European Union, launched Wednesday during a press conference held at the EU Delegation the seventh edition of the "Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press" in the presence of Mrs Gisele Khoury-Kassir, President of Samir Kassir Foundation, and representatives from EU Member States

The "Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of the Press", which is awarded since 2006 by the European Union, honours the Lebanese journalist and writer Samir Kassir who was assassinated in 2005. The Award has grown in popularity since its creation, each year witnessing an ever increasing number of candidates from the Mediterranean region, the Middle East and the Gulf. This was particularly the case in 2011.

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the government’s policy of “distancing itself” from the Syrian developments.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “It should instead work on fortifying Lebanon against the repercussions of the crisis.”