The Information Branch arrested a dangerous fugitive after raiding his place of residence in the northeastern town of Arsal and chasing him, an army statement said.

Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hujeiri, nicknamed “Abou Ibrahim” and “Kahroub”, was arrested by the Information Branch with the assistance of military forces in the al-Sabil neighborhood, the statement added.

A legislative session aimed at tackling a number of financial draft-laws was held Thursday at parliament amid the boycott of the Kataeb Party and a rally staged by its supporters in protest against the meeting.

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement took part in the meeting following an agreement that was reached on Wednesday that appeased their demands regarding restoring the nationality of expatriates and the parliamentary electoral laws.

You Stink activists dumped trash early on Thursday in front of several ministries protesting the government’s dysfunction on a months-long trash crisis, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The activists dumped waste near the ministries of Environment, Labor, Energy, Foreign, Culture, Education, Social Affairs, Industry and Displaced.

The army dismantled on Thursday a bomb in the northern city of Tripoli, reported the National News Agency.

It said that an explosive was discovered in a box placed near Kanaan cafe in the Qobbeh neighborhood.

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement agreed to attend the legislative session following concessions that were made over the inclusion of the parliamentary electoral law on its agenda, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

It said that an agreement was reached to form a committee to prepare an electoral law and approve it.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil expressed his optimism over the upcoming legislative session, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Thursday.

He told the daily: “The consensual agreement over the meeting can be attributed to the political commitment between the Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces.”

The next round of talks between the Mustaqbal Movement and Hizbullah has been rescheduled for Friday, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Thursday.

The meeting was set to be held on Thursday, but was postponed due to the officials' commitment to the legislative session held at parliament.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh stressed Wednesday that what achieves a “victory” for Christians is the approval of a “fair” electoral law, dismissing the legislative settlement that was reached earlier in the day as a “Don Quixotic triumph.”

“The move that achieves a victory for Christians is the approval of an electoral law, not slogans, and what happened today was a 'Don Quixotic victory',” said Franjieh in an interview on MTV.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hailed Wednesday the political settlement that was reached over the legislative session, hoping it will push political parties to address all problems through “serious and honest dialogue.”

“In the past few days, Lebanon went through a major political crisis that was about to jeopardize stability and the country's foundations amid sharp disputes and contradictions,” Jumblat noted.

Iran said Wednesday a top diplomat who went missing in the deadly stampede at this year's hajj pilgrimage is still alive and has asked Saudi Arabia to return him.

Ghazanfar Roknabadi was attending the annual Muslim gathering in September when pilgrims stampeded, killing at least 2,236 people in the hajj's worst-ever tragedy.