The much-anticipated meeting between Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and al-Mustaqbal head MP Saad Hariri in the French capital Paris is not expected to resolve the presidential deadlock.

An Nahar newspaper reported that the meeting, which was expected to be held on Tuesday was postponed to Friday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is scheduled to visit Kuwait on Sunday for talks with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, in his second Gulf state visit in a month.

Al-Liwaa daily said Wednesday that the one-day trip is aimed at sending a message that Lebanon's security situation has improved and that Kuwaiti citizens could visit the country.

The dispute on the wage scale for the public sector has made some breakthrough after talks between the finance minister and al-Mustaqbal bloc's leader but differences between the parliamentary blocs remained on the funding.

An Nahar newspaper said on Wednesday that al-Mustaqbal bloc chief MP Fouad Saniora held talks with the representatives of the March 14 alliance to discuss the pay raise.

A meeting was held recently between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki in an attempt to end the rift among them, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily, al-Rahi held a dinner banquet on Monday night in the presence of 25 bishops and attended by Aoun.

By David Hale

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said he is waiting for al-Mustaqbal movement to nominate him or endorse a “new candidate” for the presidency, revealing that he had told Mustaqbal leader Saad Hariri that he would guarantee his “political security” if he returns to Lebanon.

“Mustaqbal Movement officials contacted me and we had the intent to meet in the summer of 2013 but the circumstances did not allow us to do so. We then scheduled a meeting in Rome and we agreed not to publicize it so that they (political rivals) don't force its failure before it even happens,” Aoun said in an interview on OTV.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc on Tuesday called on the cabinet to take charge of people's affairs, urging also the election of a new head of state “as soon as possible.”

"It is not acceptable to continue stalling amid vacuum in the state's top post,” the bloc said in a released statement after the MPs' weekly meeting at the Center House.

A meeting held Tuesday in Rome to explore means to support the Lebanese Army did not offer more than logistical assistance, although some participant countries voiced readiness to “support the Lebanese Armed Forces during the capabilities building and reinforcement process.”

The talks, dubbed the Ministerial Conference on International Support for the Lebanese Armed Forces, were held under the auspices of U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.

The Change and Reform bloc declared on Tuesday that the region's latest troubled developments prove that the Free Patriotic Movement's stances aimed at protecting Lebanon.

"We are all witnessing extremism in Iraq and the acts of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and when we look back at some of (FPM leader) General (Michel) Aoun's statements in 2006, we note that he warned of the region's dangerous situation and of the Sunni-Shiite strife,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting.

Visiting Kuwaiti Speaker Marzouq al-Ghanim said on Tuesday that the Gulf State never wavered in backing Lebanon.

He stressed: “Kuwait will never abandon Lebanon under any circumstances.”