The Lebanese army said on Friday that it seized mortar shells and explosives during a night raid in the northern city of Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh area.

A military communique said an army unit raided a depot at the grocery market on Thursday night after receiving information that militants had stashed weapons there.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh has said he would back the extension of Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji's term to avoid vacuum in the military leadership but would also call on the minister representing him in the cabinet to resign if the March 8 alliance took a unanimous decision about it.

Franjieh told As Safir daily in an interview published on Friday that he supports a call to appoint Commando Regiment chief Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz as army chief when Qahwaji's term expires at the end of September.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon reiterated his call on all Lebanese leaders to work without any further delay for the election of a new president and work for the nation's interest.

According to An Nahar daily published on Friday, Ban expressed his growing concern over the continued failure to elect a head of state in his semi-annual report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

Negotiations with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) reached a dead end after the group placed tough conditions to release the servicemen in its captivity, media reports said on Friday.

According to al-Mustaqbal newspaper, ISIL links the release of the hostages to the operation carried out by the Lebanese army on Lebanon's eastern border with Syria.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will arrive on Sunday evening in Beirut to oversee the long-awaited delivery of weapons to the Lebanese army under a Saudi financed deal.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, the delivery of the first shipment of $3 billion worth of weapons to the army will be held later on Monday during a ceremony at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport's air base.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to head to Saudi Arabia in the upcoming few days amid a war of words between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah over Riyadh's offensive in Yemen against the Shiite Huthi rebels.

Sources said in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper on Friday that Salam will hold talks with Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Azizi and senior officials.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri is expected to travel to Washington on Monday for a one week visit, al-Joumhouria daily reported.

The agenda of his trip is still not complete, the newspaper said Friday.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc highlighted on Thursday the role of the army in combating the threat of terrorism in Lebanon.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Diligence should be exercised in following up on the army's efforts to fighting terror.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi discussed at Bkirki on Thursday with the ambassadors to Lebanon of the five permanent United Nations Security Council members local and regional developments.

Al-Rahi demanded the international community to facilitate the election of a new head of state, expressing support to the ongoing dialogue between the rival parties to bridge the gap.

The contempt case against al-Jadeed TV network and journalist Karma al-Khayat, accused of obstructing justice, kicked off on Thursday at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague.

Al-Khayat and al-Jadeed S.A.L. are charged with two counts of contempt and obstruction of justice under rule 60 of the Tribunal’s Rules of Procedure and Evidence.