Activists poked fun at the Lebanese tourism ministry over a video it commissioned showing natural beauty by releasing their own aerial footage of garbage festering across the country.

Rubbish has piled up on beaches, mountain forests and river beds across Lebanon since the closure in July of the country's main landfill in Naameh.

The Appeals Panel of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Tuesday acquitted al-Jadeed television and its vice chairwoman Karma al-Khayat of all charges of contempt.

The panel issued its judgment with “two separate opinions and one partially dissenting opinion,” the STL said in a statement.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday strongly condemned Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's “attacks and baseless accusations against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Cooperation Council states and the rest of Arab countries,” saying they reflect “anxiety and arrogance.”

“Instead of appreciating the huge and constructive role that KSA has played for long decades towards Lebanon, especially after the July 2006 war, he started launching shameful and fabricated accusations against the kingdom and the Arab states,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

The Change and Reform bloc urged on Tuesday officials to respect constitutional deadlines and to therefore hold the municipal elections as scheduled on May 8.

Former Minister Salim Jreissati said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “Seeing as the municipal polls are being held on May 8, then then the parliamentary elections could be held on the same day.”

Moody's said that the latest measures taken by Gulf Cooperation Council states, which urged their nationals to refrain from traveling to Lebanon, will not have a direct impact on the country's financial situation.

The credit rating company said that the proportion of visitors coming from the GCC countries has already fallen since 2011 for security reasons.

Lebanon came under more pressure by Gulf states this week after a Lebanese official delegation was not granted a visa to the UAE amid reports that Saudi Arabian Airlines has ordered a stop in ticket sales to Lebanon.

Youth and Sports Minister Abdul Motleb al-Hennawi regretted the decision not to grant the delegation a visa to attend an Arab youth gathering in Dubai.

Former MP Hassan Yaaqoub, who has been in detention since December, remained in hospital on Tuesday as a judge issued an arrest warrant against his brother in the kidnapping of Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Mount Lebanon Examining Magistrate Peter Jermanous issued the warrant against Hussein Yaaqoub after hearing his testimony, which came only hours after the ex-lawmaker was taken to Beirut General Hospital amid high security measures after suffering a heart attack.

The Justice Ministry has recommended not to extradite Ali Taan Fayad to the United States to face weapons charges, Lebanese judicial sources have said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Tuesday that the General Prosecution was informed by the government via the Justice Ministry about a decision not to extradite Fayad.

Arab parties in Israel's parliament have condemned the recent designation of Hizbullah as a terrorist organization by several Gulf Arab states.

Two parties from the Joint List, an alliance of Arab-backed parties, on Monday criticized the move by the Saudi-led Gulf Cooperation Council.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Monday urged Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to stop his verbal attacks against Saudi Arabia, as he stressed that he will not allow the country to “collapse.”

“Hizbullah played a role in resisting Israel before going abroad and interfering in the affairs of other countries,” Salam lamented in an interview with Al-Arabiya television.