A celebration was held on Saturday in the Shouf region to mark Christian-Druze reconciliation in the village of Brih following a break in ties between the two sides following the 1975-90 Civil War.

President Michel Suleiman, Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat attended the celebration along with a number of lawmakers from various parliamentary blocs.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji will travel to Saudi Arabia before the end of the month to follow up on the kingdom's grant to the Lebanese army, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It said that he should head to Saudi Arabia before the end of May in order to sign the protocol linked to Riyadh's grant to the army.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has reportedly rejected the appointment of three members of the Military Council, an article that was set to be discussed during a cabinet session on Friday, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

It said that his veto of the appointment of the members is part if his opposition to the extension of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji's term.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces leader and presidential candidate Samir Geagea held talks on Friday in the French capital Paris, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It said that Geagea is scheduled to also hold talks with various French officials on the latest Lebanese developments.

President Michel Suleiman expressed content on Saturday to leave the presidential palace as his term approaches its end amid controversy of extension, and affirmed that he will continue his political work as a “political reference.”

“I am relaxed and happy because I will be leaving the presidential palace. I liberated myself from what is called the extension and renewal of my term, and filling in the post in case of vacuum as some are suggesting,” Suleiman told al-Liwaa daily.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday described Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi's scheduled visit to Jerusalem as “problematic,” expressing his belief that no new president will be elected within the constitutional timeframe, which ends on May 25.

“We believe that al-Rahi's visit to occupied Palestine is problematic. It has to do with the patriarchate and Christians and we don't know what negative repercussions might arise from it, but we will evaluate it and comment on it if necessary,” Qassem said in an interview on al-Mayadeen TV.

The cabinet on Friday agreed to lower phone call tariffs and approved a number of administrative appointments after postponing controversial debate over military ones.

According to several media outlets, the cabinet “slashed the fees of cellphone and landline calls.”

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri announced Friday that the responsibility of electing a new Lebanese president falls on the shoulders of Christians before anyone else, stressing that any foreign interference in the vote is “unacceptable.”

“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports any inter-Lebanese agreement on the election of a president, especially that that would achieve security, stability and prosperity for Lebanon,” Asiri said after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

Education Minister Elias Bou Saab warned on Friday that a “major crisis” is looming over holding official exams for high school and secondary school students given the ongoing dispute over the approval of the new wage scale.

He said after meeting with a delegation from the Syndicate Coordination Committee: “No more strikes will take place before the end of the school year.”

President Michel Suleiman urged the parliament on Friday to act in accordance with the Constitution to avert the dangers that could arise from the failure to elect a new head of state by May 25.

Suleiman made his plea in a message he sent to parliament via Speaker Nabih Berri and in accordance with the authorities given to him by clause 10 of article 53 of the Constitution.