The Higher Islamic Council on Saturday urged lawmakers and political parties to meet and elect a new president within the constitutional timeframe, stressing that the polls must remain “Lebanese.”

"We discussed with great concern the inability of the parliament to reach an accord on the election of a new president, especially because this is a matter that has a huge role in promoting stability and security in Lebanon,” the HIC said in a released statement after a meeting chaired by its deputy chief Omar Misqawi.

Two rockets launched from the Eastern Mountain Range landed on Saturday in the outskirts of the Baalbek town of Britel without causing any injuries, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“Two rockets from the Eastern Lebanon Mountain Range landed in Britel, but no injuries were reported,” said NNA.

The army said Saturday that it arrested a man in the northern district of Akkar after finding thousands of light arm bullets in his vehicle.

“An army unit seized around 6,600 bullets for light weapons from the Toyota van of Rabih Abdul Karim Younes in Hnaider in Akkar,” the military said in a terse communique.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi informed Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil that the election of a president by May 25 would be guaranteed by the attendance of all lawmakers to the parliamentary session.

Al-Rahi and Bassil discussed the presidential elections during talks at the seat of the Maronite church on Friday, Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayyad told al-Joumhouria daily.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi confirmed on Saturday that his commitment to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's request in the case of Al-Jadeed TV's Karma al-Khayat and al-Akhbar daily's Ibrahim al-Amin was not discussed at the cabinet session, stressing that he has no choice but to implement the law.

The Minister told al-Liwaa daily that his commitment to the STL's request was not “discussed during Friday's cabinet session nor was it brought up by any of the ministers.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea preferred a presidential vacuum over Hizbullah's rule, saying his ally in the March 14 alliance ex-PM Saad Hariri would not accept a deal to elect Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun as a consensual president in return for taking the helm of the new cabinet.

In an interview with pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Saturday, Geagea said: “We wouldn't have much options if there was vacuum … We would either hold onto our stances or surrender the country to Hizbullah and its allies.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed his frustration at the strike carried out by public sector employees and the call of teachers to boycott the official exams, As Safir daily reported on Saturday.

Berri revealed his disappointment to his visitors, saying he was quick to hand a copy of the wage hike draft-law to the Syndicate Coordination Committee when a ministerial-parliamentary committee amended it.

The director of UNHCR's Middle East and North Africa Bureau has said that the U.N. is discussing with Lebanese authorities the possibility of setting up camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

An Nahar daily quoted Amin Awad as saying on Saturday that the proposal calls for establishing the camps in Lebanese territories away from the border with Syria and the dividing lines between the warring sides ... to limit the presence of refugees in several locations.”

Italy's top court on Friday confirmed a seven-year sentence against a key political ally of Silvio Berlusconi accused of serving as a mediator between Italy's former prime minister and the Sicilian Mafia.

Marcello Dell'Utri was arrested in Lebanon last month after police in Italy issued a warrant for his arrest saying he was a possible flight risk.

President Michel Suleiman said Friday he has asked Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to seek clarifications from Iran regarding remarks by one of its top military officials about southern Lebanon, as the cabinet approved 15 top tier administrative appointments.

“During the national dialogue session (on Monday), a statement attributed to Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials was discussed and the foreign minister was asked to seek a clarification from the Iranian side,” Suleiman said during a cabinet session in Baabda.