The cabinet is not likely to reach a deal on the controversial resistance clause of the policy statement before a rally organized by the March 14 alliance on Friday afternoon, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said.

In remarks carried by al-Akhbar daily, Jumblat did not expect a deal on the clause although Prime Minister Tammam Salam was eager for the cabinet to meet before the rally to avoid a further deterioration in the row between the March 8 and 14 alliances.

The Lebanese Forces formed a 12-member committee to draft a detailed presidential election program to prepare the candidacy of its leader Samir Geagea as he is threatening to withdraw from the March 14 alliance over the policy statement row.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday that the 12-member committee comprises experts in various fields.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is eager to hold a cabinet session on Friday before a rally organized by the March 14 alliance in the afternoon to avoid a further crisis on the policy statement.

According to As Safir, Salam had expressed fears that the rally, which will be held in BIEL on the anniversary of the Cedar Revolution, would complicate the row on the resistance clause of the policy statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said a proposal made by him could salvage the government, hoping that Premier Tammam Salam would not resign before Monday.

In remarks to As Safir daily published on Friday, Berri said: “If there were good intentions and readiness to reach a settlement, then this proposal should be accepted by the March 14” camp.

President Michel Suleiman said on Friday that Hizbullah's involvement in battles in Syria weakened it, stressing that any endeavors to extend his tenure don't serve the national interest.

“The March 8 and 14 alliances have erred against me and they have both played with the nerves of the Lebanese people,” Suleiman said in an interview with the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper to be published tomorrow.

The cabinet on Thursday adjourned its discussions until Friday after the parties failed to reach an agreement over the policy statement following a six-hour meeting at the Baabda Palace and intensive consultations inside and outside the session.

Bilateral meetings between ministers were held on the sidelines of the session in a bid to reach a consensual formula for the policy statement and prevent a looming resignation by Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Military Investigative Judge Fadi Sawwan on Thursday interrogated the detainee Jihad H., who is accused of belonging to the jihadist group al-Nusra Front.

The man was charged with “belonging to an armed terrorist group (al-Nusra Front) with the aim of carrying out terrorist acts and providing cars that were supposed to be booby-trapped in Syria, as well as forging official documents and IDs,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Falling rocks and debris from a landslide smashed into a construction site in the Roumieh area on Thursday, leaving one person dead and several others injured.

“Heavy rains led to the collapse of big chunks of a mountain in Roumieh when fell onto an under construction building containing around 20 workers,” MTV said.

A child was killed on Thursday in clashes that erupted in the northern city of Tripoli after the death of a local from injuries he sustained during a shooting in the morning, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Walid Barhoum died after he was shot at three times in the city earlier on Thursday.

Three Grad rockets fired from the Syrian side of the Eastern Mountain Belt landed Thursday in the hills of the Bekaa town of al-Nabi Sheet, state-run National News Agency reported.

The rockets which hit the al-Arid neighborhood did not cause any casualties, NNA said.