Caretaker Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Thursday called for holding parliamentary by-elections to fill the two vacant seats of the Tripoli and Keserwan electoral districts.

Speaker Nabih Berri and President Michel Aoun traded indirect criticisms on Thursday where each held the other responsible for weakening the state institutions.

The UN Special Coordinator for Lebano Sigrid Kaag, was awarded the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize on 16 November 2016.

The prize, presented to Kaag in the Peace Palace in The Hague, came in recognition of her leadership of the 2013 joint OPCW-UN mission to eliminate the declared chemical weapons of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as her role in conflict prevention and diplomacy in Lebanon.

President Michel Aoun accompanied with outgoing Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil met with Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at Bkirki on Thursday.

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra stated on Thursday that the government formation process is almost complete and the line-up that was leaked to media outlets is near final.

“The leaked government line-up that was circulated in media outlets is true and almost final,” Zahra told LBCI.

Financial General Prosecutor Judge Ali Ibrahim referred detainee and top cellphone dealer Kamel Amhaz and two airport security personnel to First Military Investigative Judge Riad Abou Ghaida, LBCI reported on Thursday.

The defense ministry will not be allotted to the Lebanese Forces in the new cabinet line-up because of the party's political project which reports said it “contradicts the combat doctrine of the Lebanese army,” media reports said Thursday.

The LF will not be given one of the so-called sovereign portfolios in the new government, mainly the defense ministry, as long as the party carries a political project that deviates from the army's combat doctrine, said al-Akhbar daily.

Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri held talks Wednesday evening at the Baabda Palace with President Michel Aoun.

Speaker Nabih Berri expressed optimism Wednesday that the line-up of the new Cabinet will be announced soon as some political parties declared that the government might be formed “within 48 or 72 hours.”

Nicolas Sarkozy's links with the late Moammar Gadhafi came under fresh scrutiny Tuesday after a businessman admitted delivering three cash-stuffed suitcases from the Libyan leader toward the Frenchman's first presidential bid.