Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Thursday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

Al-Akhbar

[Government] moving forward on payments; No fear about paying salaries

There is no fear over the issue of paying salaries as the government spending plan is moving forward and will soon be referred to Parliament.

However, some have begun to look on with suspicion at the sanctions on the banking sector in Lebanon.

As news spread that the government would not be able to pay salaries for October unless the spending draft law was passed, some public employees, contractors and retirees panicked.

But sources ruled out Wednesday this occurring and confirmed that government spending would move forward and therefore there was no need for concern on the issue of paying salaries.

This issue is no longer on the table after the successful mediation by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who managed to come up with a solution to the problem.

Al-Anwar

March 14 considers Mikati’s STL pledge just words and demands explicit Cabinet agreement

With the end of a visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati to the United Nations, issues regarding public appointments and gas exploration are expected to pick up momentum.

Meanwhile, the March 14 coalition considered remarks made by Prime Minister Najib Mikati on funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a “merely verbal commitment” and called for an “explicit Cabinet agreement.”

“The government, headed by Mikati, includes ministers from Hezbollah, which is accused of assassinations that took place in Lebanon,” the March 14 coalition said following its weekly meeting Wednesday.

“It would be useful if Mikati would also commit to handing the [Hezbollah] suspects over to the international justice,” the March 14 alliance added.

Separately, news spread that as of Friday morning the road to ESCWA headquarters in Downtown Beirut would be closed to traffic and all intersections around the building would be barricaded for a week or so for security reasons.

According to information made available to Al-Anwar, The special representative to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [U.N. Special Coordinator to Lebanon Michael Williams] urged the Mikati government to take extraordinary security measures around the U.N. headquarters in Bir Hasan and Downtown Beirut, citing security reports suggesting the possibility of targeting the U.N. similar to recent attacks against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the south.

Ad-Diyar

Aoun hit Sfeir once and Geagea cursed Rai today without naming him

They talk about Christian spiritual values while they are involved in the killing of innocent Christians

One night the heroic Michel Aoun sent his men to hit Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki. Not even during the Ottoman Empire could the mamalik (kings) hit the patriarch. But Aoun did it and sent his men to nail the patriarch. Now comes the champion Samir Geagea, who attacked Patriarch Beshara Rai, citing fundamental Christian principles while forgetting that he was involved in the killings of innocent people. Where were these Christian principles when he killed them? Geagea goes on to criticize Rai without naming him.

Aoun sent people to hit Patriarch Sfeir because he was a daring hero; and Geagea -- who doesn’t have a clean record having killed innocent people and who, like criminal Walid Jumblatt, displaced Christians from the mountains -- attacked Patriarch Rai.

Al-Mustaqbal

Hariri asks Mikati about his jurisdiction over ‘visas to Iranians’

No one has stripped Prime Minister Najib Mikati from his powers to approve the “exemption of Iranians coming to Lebanon from entry visas” since everyone knows that Mikati has been struggling to pay off the debt to Hezbollah which named him head of the government.

However, surprisingly Mikati sought to “evade” the truth that his government was actually the one that agreed on this issue, claiming that Saad Hariri’s government was responsible for the decision.

Although Hariri’s office issued a statement Wednesday clarifying this issue, Mikati insisted that the decision was taken by Hariri’s government.

However, for the sake of truth, Hariri’s office issued a new statement saying that Mikati’s “response proves that he is deliberately shunning the truth,” reiterating that the decision on visa exemption for Iranians was taken by the current government after Hariri had refused to include it on Cabinet’s agenda.