A French man was killed in an avalanche on Lebanon's highest mountain peak on Friday while 10 other skiers escaped unharmed, officials and a witness said.

The French embassy confirmed to Agence France Presse that one of its citizens had been killed in an accident in Qornet al-Sawda, which overlooks the Cedars of north Lebanon and the eastern Bekaa Valley.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned on Friday that “no one and no country” should obstruct the functioning of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, calling on the Lebanese people and government to work on reaching political stability in their country.

He stressed during the World Economic Forum in Davos that the STL is “adopting an independent legal route.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea held talks on Friday with French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton on the postponement of the contact group meeting between France, the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey.

The French official explained that the meeting was not necessary at the moment because the tensions that had been predominant in Lebanon have eased, said a statement from Geagea’s media office.

The Lebanese army on Friday rescued 10 people, one of them critically injured, who had been trapped in an avalanche on Lebanon's highest mountain peak, a military spokesman said.

"Army special forces were deployed to Qornet al-Sawda to rescue 10 people, including French and Lebanese nationals, and all we know at present is that one of them is seriously injured," the spokesman told Agence France Presse.

Both the seat of the Maronite church and the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, aka Al-Ahbash, denied on Friday reports about a bomb threat against a Catholic school in Lebanon.

Bkirki's secretariat said in a statement that reports about the threat were not true.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati on Friday wrapped up two days of consultations with the various parliamentary blocs as part of efforts to form a new Lebanon government.

Miqati said there are two opposing views – one that is requesting commitments and one is seeking the opposite.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati has reportedly denied he had promised outgoing PM Saad Hariri that he will give him written answers to his demands before taking a decision on whether or not he would take part in the new Cabinet.

Hariri and his Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Thursday demanded that Miqati clarify his position on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) before Hariri would make a decision to join or not to join the new government.

Qatar and France agreed to cancel a meeting of the so-called "contact group" on Lebanon, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani announced.

His statement came following talks in Paris late Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Speaker Nabih Berri said he told PM-designate Najib Miqati that the March 8 forces would facilitate the government formation process that should not take more than a week or two if former Premier Saad Hariri’s camp wants to take part in the new cabinet.

In remarks to An Nahar and As Safir newspapers published Friday, Berri said the government should be formed “as soon as possible” to give the green light to projects that would help the Lebanese overcome their crises.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stressed that U.N. Security Council members have expressed their keenness on seeing a Lebanese commitment to international resolutions following the formation of a new government led by Caretaker PM Najib Miqati.

Feltman told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Friday that his talks with French officials in Paris touched on the developments in Lebanon. Security Council members have expressed to him their keenness on Lebanon’s commitment to resolutions 1701 and 1757, he said.