The fish market in Beirut's Karantina area was reopened on Tuesday more than two weeks after it was shut down for renovation.

Governor of Beirut Ziad Shebib ordered on February 5 the closure of the market for not meeting health standards.

Salafist cleric Sheikh Bilal Deqmaq was released from custody after being arrested a week ago, reported MTV.

The cleric was detained on February 18 after being deported from Turkey.

Security forces detained on Tuesday three Syrians on charges linked to transporting arms and committing a murder, the state-run National News Agency.

The State Security bureau in the northern district of Akkar raided the residence of Syrian national Kh.S. in the town of Taleel and apprehended him.

Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayeb agreed during a meeting with milk producers to fix the price of 1L of milk at LL1,000 to enable dairy factories to buy it.

Shehayeb pointed out that he agreed with the producers and manufacturers to establish an operation room at the ministry to receive complaints and follow up all crises in the milk sector.

Grand Mufti Abdul Latif Daryan has warned that the failure to elect a new president will lead to more crises in the country, calling on MPs to choose a head of state to revitalize state institutions.

“The delay in the election of a president will create more crises,” Daryan old members of the Lebanese community in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Monday.

Hizbullah and the head of AMAL, Speaker Nabih Berri, back the extension of more than 20 officers in different posts despite a steadfast rejection by their March 8 ally, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Tuesday.

The daily said that several parties support such a decision amid the presidential vacuum and the delicate security situation that the country is passing through.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has stressed that he would set a date for a new cabinet session when his contacts with the different parties represented in the cabinet reach solutions to the government paralysis.

Officials close to Salam said the premier backs any initiative that would facilitate the government's work.

A leading member of the Arab Democratic Party, Rifaat Eid, has been sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment over incitement of violence in the northern city of Tripoli.

The Permanent Military Court headed by Brig. Khalil Ibrahim issued on Monday the sentence against him, which included hard labor, after he was convicted of provoking strife between the rival Tripoli districts of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh.

Kataeb chief Amin Gemayel will reportedly step down as head of his party, clearing the way for his son MP Sami Gemayel to succeed him despite objections by some members.

According to al-Akhbar newspaper published on Tuesday, some members warned that Sami's leadership of the Kataeb puts the party at enormous risks.

General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim is awaiting the green light to head to Istanbul to tackle the case of so-called Arsal captives, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, Ibrahim only traveled to the United Arab of Emirates, denying talks about his trip to Turkey where he allegedly met with Qatari intelligence chief Ghanim al-Kubaisi.