Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora on Saturday met with President Michel Suleiman before traveling to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Saniora held talks with Suleiman at Baabda palace on Saturday morning. He then traveled to Riyadh at the head of a delegation from al-Mustaqbal movement.

Speaker Nabih Berri was discharged from American University of Beirut Medical Center after undergoing a minor surgery to remove a kidney stone, the hospital said Saturday.

“Speaker Berri has been admitted to the AUBMC and (ex-health minister) Dr. Mohammed Jawad Khalife conducted the surgery," the hospital said .

The Lebanese army said on Saturday that it arrested three gunmen for opening fire on a patrol after tossing a hand grenade in an area in the northern city of Tripoli.

“Three armed men riding a Mercedes in the area of Duwwar Abu Ali in Tripoli tossed a hand grenade and opened fire in an attempt to breach security and terrorize citizens,” said the communique issued by the army command.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged the authorities on Saturday not to allow arms smuggling and prevent the use of Lebanese territories as bases to attack Syria, warning against attempts to push Lebanon to a national crisis in search for a huge change that includes turning it into statelets.

“We urge the authorities to make sure that arms are not smuggled and that Lebanese territories are not used to transfer them to Syria or that its land is not used for bases of defense or attack,” Al-Rahi said in his Easter message.

Pope Francis reached out in friendship to "so many Muslim brothers and sisters" during a Good Friday procession dedicated to the suffering of Christians from terrorism, war and religious fanaticism in the Middle East.

The new pontiff, who has rankled traditionalists by rejecting many trappings of his office, mostly stuck to the traditional script during the nighttime Way of the Cross procession at Rome's Colosseum, one of the most dramatic rituals of Holy Week.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea reiterated calls to form a “neutral” cabinet to supervise the upcoming parliamentary elections, and to choose a new premier who is not a candidate for the polls, the As-Safir daily reported on Saturday.

“Holding the parliamentary elections is a prime target even if technical reasons led to some delay. We want a cabinet of elections, and it cannot be but a neutral one that includes technocrat ministers specialized in addressing the economic and living situation,” said Geagea in an interview with the daily.

The March 14 opposition alliance is seeking the formation of a neutral cabinet to oversee the elections while the March 8 majority alliance led by Hizbullah is after a national unity government, two stances that are likely to worsen the country’s political crisis.

A high-ranking March 14 official told An Nahar daily published Saturday that the opposition wants a new neutral cabinet capable of supervising the polls that should be held “as soon as possible” if there was a need for a technical postponement.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has said that he would suggest a technical postponement of the parliamentary elections for three months amid a deadlock on the new cabinet and the vote law.

In remarks to al-Liwaa daily published on Saturday, Charbel said his proposal “would give the consultations aimed at reaching consensus on the electoral law and the government” more time.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday underwent a “successful surgery” at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Hamra.

“Speaker Berri has been admitted to the American University of Beirut Medical Center and (ex-health minister) Dr. Mohammed Jawad Khalife is conducting an urgent surgery on him," al-Jadeed television reported.

Amer Arish, the so-called “commander of al-Beddawi frontier” in Tripoli, was wounded on Friday in a failed assassination attempt.

Unidentified attackers opened fire and hurled a hand grenade on Arish outside his shop in al-Beddawi, state-run National News Agency reported.