Lebanese Forces official Melhem Riachi informed Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Thursday that Saudi Arabia encourages the rapprochement between the two parties.

Riachi, who is LF chief Samir Geagea's envoy, delivered a message to Aoun during a visit he made to Rabieh that Riyadh “backs and encourages Christian rapprochement,” local media reported.

The Change and Reform bloc condemned on Tuesday the silence over the “assaults committed against student demonstrators” in front of the Grand Serail last week, while demanding that agreements made over the cabinet's decision-taking power be respected.

MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “It is everyone's duty to respect the agreements made at government regarding its mechanism.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Saturday held the army leadership responsible for the clash that took place between his supporters and troops at a protest earlier this week.

“It is a shame for the (army) leadership to behave this way with peaceful protesters,” Aoun told a delegation of supporters from Aley.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq has said that peaceful demonstrations would not cause a problem for security forces if Free Patriotic Movement supporters took to the streets.

The law “protects political work and any peaceful expression should not cause a problem,” al-Mashnouq told An Nahar daily published on Tuesday.

The Change and Reform bloc deemed on Tuesday the omission of the security appointments file from cabinet's session on Thursday as a “legal and constitutional violation.”

MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc's weekly meeting: “Our ministers will attend the meeting to address the absence of this matter from its agenda.”

Change and Reform bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan held talks Monday with the main Christian parties in a bid to clinch their support for Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun's proposal on carrying out a survey to determine which Christian party or parties are influential in the country.

Following a meeting with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab, Kanaan said the LF chief reiterated to him “his support for organizing the survey.”

Contacts between Bkirki and officials from the Free Patriotic Movement, the Lebanese Forces and the Marada Movement are expected to be activated this week in an attempt to resolve the presidential deadlock.

An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan is planning to hold separate talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, LF chief Samir Geagea and Marada leader MP Suleiman Franjieh.

The Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement signed a landmark declaration of intent on Tuesday, in a move aimed at ending around 30 years of rivalry between the two Christian parties.

The stipulations of the document were announced after a meeting in Rabiyeh between LF chief Samir Geagea and FPM leader MP Michel Aoun.

The seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki and the Kataeb Party reportedly expressed reservations on the Change and Reform bloc's initiative to resolve the presidential deadlock.

Sources said in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper Tuesday that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and the Kataeb Party were mainly skeptic over the vague mechanism that the initiative is based on.

Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan warned on Sunday of the risks imposed by the current status quo, calling on the political rivals to agree on resolving the situation to prevent any further degradation.

“We have reached the edge of abyss,” Kanaan said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).