The Change and Reform bloc lashed out at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday, accusing him of contradicting with the clauses of the Bkirki Charter.

"We are the party that values the Bkirki Charter and no one should explain it in different terms to serve their interests,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan stated after the bloc's weekly meeting.

Jackie Chamoun, the Lebanese skier competing at the Sochi Winter Olympics, has sparked a flap in the country, including a ministerial demand for an investigation, after risque photos of her taken for a calendar resurfaced online.

The photos of Chamoun taken for the calendar show her holding strategically-placed ski equipment to protect her modesty as she poses in Faraya mountains.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Tuesday challenged rivals in the Hizbullah-led camp to endorse the recent charter issued by Bkirki as a “national program of action,” noting that some parties have only voiced “verbal support” for the document.

“The Bkirki charter reminded me of the famous Bkirki declaration,” said Geagea at a press conference he held at his Maarab headquarters.

The military prosecutor charged on Tuesday two suspects for having ties with Jamal Daftardar, a prominent official in the al-Qaida linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades.

The charges were issued by Judge Saqr Saqr against a Lebanese man, who is in custody, and another Palestinian suspect.

A rocket from Syrian territories landed on Tuesday on the outskirts of the eastern Bekaa town of Hermel, a Hizbullah stronghold, media reports said.

However, the state-run National News Agency reported that explosion sounds heard in Hermel were caused by a raid carried out by Syrian planes inside Syria near the border region of al-Qaa in the northern Bekaa.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi called on Tuesday for the formation of a government that does not lead to a crisis in Lebanon and for holding the presidential elections on time.

“The government should not cause a crisis if it was formed according to everyone's wishes in Lebanon,” al-Rahi told reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport before making a two-week trip to the Vatican.

Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau detained a Syrian national allegedly involved in last year's deadly mosque bombings in the northern city of Tripoli, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The NNA said that the Intelligence Bureau raided the house of 31-year-old Jamil Aziz al-Hassan in the northern region of Anfeh and arrested him.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora returned to Lebanon on Tuesday after a short visit to the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, for talks with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri concerning the latest local and regional developments.

According to An Nahar newspaper, talks between al-Mustaqbal chief Saad Hariri and Saniora will focus on the latest developments regarding the cabinet formation process.

The Progressive Socialist Party is still exerting efforts to facilitate the formation of a new cabinet and end the political deadlock despite the ongoing disputes among the rival parties over the distribution of key portfolios.

Head of the PSP MP Walid Jumblat pointed out that the names proposed by al-Mustaqbal movement to be appointed at the head of the interior ministry are not provoking nor pose any challenge to the other parties.

European Union Ambassador to Lebanon Angelina Eichhorst said an understanding was reached by the international community on the safety and security of Lebanon, stressing the importance of forming a new government and respecting constitutional deadlines.

“We have reiterated that we hope you would form a government because there is an important international understanding on Lebanon, which should protect the country,” Eichhorst told An Nahar daily in an interview published on Tuesday.