Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed the need for the election of a president who is “not provocative” to another political camp, reported al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Monday.

He told the daily: “Christians must realize the difficulty of Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun or Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea's election as president.”

AMAL and al-Mustaqbal movements are expected to resume on Monday negotiations over the country's financial crisis after failing to reach a breakthrough over the weekend as both parties held onto their stances.

According to al-Liwaa newspaper, a meeting will be held on Monday between Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Speaker Nabih Berri's adviser, and al-Mustaqbal lawmakers Ghazi Youssef and Jamal al-Jarrah, in an attempt to end the crisis.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel lauded the roadmap established by al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri, considering the “timely” initiative a push for the presidential elections impasse.

“Hariri's initiative came in time amid the ongoing vacuum and the local political deadlock,” Gemayel said in comments published in al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Monday.

Speaker Nabih Berri reiterated his assertion that a president should be elected before holding the parliamentary polls, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Monday.

“We cannot appoint a new prime minister before the election of a president,” he added in response to head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri's declaration that a speaker of parliament cannot be elected before a president.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah expressed solidarity on Monday with the Palestinian people, voicing support to Hamas.

In a phone call between Nasrallah and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, the Hizbullah chief stressed that the Lebanese resistance stands by the intifada of the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Sunday stressed his commitment to “the authority of the state over security issues,” noting that “the government is decisive in its plan to impose the rule of law across Lebanon without any discrimination between a region and another.”

Salam voiced his remarks at his Msaitbeh residence before a big delegation comprising Muslim scholars and clerics who hail from all Lebanese regions.

The father of the child who was filmed abusing a Syrian boy has been arrested, announced the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau on Sunday.

It said that the father, identified as A.Aa., was arrested from inside the van he owns in the al-Raml al-Ali area in Beirut's southern suburbs of Dahieh at 2:30 am on Sunday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is adamant on refusing to withdraw from the presidential elections race in favor of other candidates, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

He told the daily: “I had proposed in the past that I withdraw my candidacy in favor of others who have the minimum requirements to carry out political tasks.”

Tensions were high in the northern city of Tripoli following the army's arrest of a wanted suspect overnight, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Sunday.

It said that tensions mounted after the arrest of Sheikh Hussam al-Sabbagh, who is wanted on terrorism charges, in Tripoli's Abi Samra neighborhood.

The main suspect behind terror cells in hotels in Beirut and the northern region of Fnaideq was killed during a raid in the northern city of Tripoli overnight on Sunday, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

It said that Al-Monzer al-Hassan was killed during an Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau raid on his apartment in City Complex in Tripoli.