The Constitutional Council held a meeting on Friday to discuss the appeal of the Free Patriotic Movement MPs against the law that extended the term of parliament until June 2017.

No decision was taken following the talks.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is planning to visit Brussels in December to discuss with European Union officials the burden of Syrian refugees, An Nahar daily reported on Friday.

Salam is mulling to discuss with the European officials promised assistance to Lebanon, which is hosting around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, said the newspaper.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri said on Friday that it was “disgraceful” for Lebanon's Independence Day to be celebrated amid a vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling for the election of a head of state whose priority lies in fighting strife.

“It is disgraceful for Independence Day to come in the absence of a president, who is given by the constitution the honor of oath to preserve the independence and the territorial integrity of the nation,” said Hariri in a statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri has denied preconditions were set for a dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement as he is exerting strong efforts to open communication channels between the rival parties.

Berri told his visitors on Thursday that he was preparing the agenda for the talks along with a similar measure taken by al-Mustaqbal.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel on Thursday rejected a proposal by Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun on limiting the presidential battle to himself and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, describing it as a “war of elimination” against democracy.

“General Aoun's proposal is a 'war of elimination' that is aimed at getting rid of everyone,” Gemayel said during an interview on LBCI television.

Two shells fired from the Syrian side of the border landed Thursday in the Lebanese southern town of Shebaa, in the first incident of its kind since the eruption of the Syrian conflict.

“Two artillery shells struck the eastern part of the town of Shebaa after being launched from the eastern hills of Mount Hermon on the Syrian side of the border,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Hizbullah on Thursday dismissed Saudi Arabia's call for the U.N. Security Council to label the Lebanese party as a “terrorist” group, shrugging it off as a “sonic bubble.”

“The Saudi envoy's remarks at the U.N. Security Council served Israel's interests,” Hizbullah sources told al-Mayadeen television.

The slaughterhouse in the northern city of Tripoli was temporarily closed on Thursday for failing to meet health standards regarding the way animals are killed and how the facility is maintained.

“The slaughterhouse was closed to preserve the safety of the citizens,” said a statement issued by Tripoli governor Ramzi Nohra.

MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Special Tribunal for Lebanon on Thursday that during the months that preceded ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination in Feb. 2005, Syria sought to grant former President Emile Lahoud “all powers” at a time when Hariri worked on forming an anti-Damascus opposition in hopes of winning the general elections.

“Lebanon was a parliamentary system, which was being shifted by Syria into a presidential system, whereby Lahoud - a Syrian candidate and a Syrian representative - was grabbing all powers,” Hamadeh told the STL Trial Chamber.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour ordered on Thursday the closure of drinking water filling companies that are violating food and water safety standards.

Abou Faour said in a memo that he asked security agencies to close all unlicensed shops that fill drinking water as part of the campaign he is waging against violators.