State Minister for Combating Corruption Nicolas Tueni stressed on Monday that an “uprising” against corruption in Lebanon is needed, and hailed the intentions of President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Saad Hariri to fight it.

“There are some genuine political intentions from the President and Prime Minister's side to combat corruption. The situation requires an uprising,” Tueni told the VDL (100.5).

The bodies of Lebanese victims who were killed in the New Year's Eve massacre at an Istanbul nightclub, will be flown back to Lebanon on board a Middle East aircraft on Monday, the VDL (93.3) radio said quoting sources from Lebanon's consulate general in the Turkish city.

Other wounded Lebanese civilians whose medical condition permits their travel, will also be flown to Lebanon, the sources added.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim reiterated on Saturday that he is determined to find a solution for the file of servicemen abducted by the Islamic State, as he revealed that security forces were able to thwart a suicide bombing plot in Sidon.

“We are determined to end the file of servicemen kidnapped by the IS,” Ibrahim told LBCI TV station in a phone conversation.

The Army Intelligence Directorate obtained, after thorough monitoring, some “accurate and credible” information that terror cells are taking action in the northern city of Tripoli according to instructions delivered to them from Islamist fugitive Shadi al-Mawalai, who is taking refuge in the southern Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh, As Safir daily reported Saturday.

A committee tasked with overlooking the upcoming parliamentary elections and providing the needed funds for the Interior Ministry to stage the elections on time, will be conducted before February 10, which marks the beginning of the constitutional deadline, An Nahar daily reported Saturday.

Official sources told the daily on condition of anonymity that “an undisclosed political agreement was reached to gear up for the elections in two parallel line. The first would be setting up the preparations for staging them based on the current 1960 electoral law, in conjunction with a similar workshop to reach a new electoral law.

Saudi Deputy Foreign Minister, Khaled Bin Ibrahim al-Jindan, is expected to arrive in Lebanon Friday for talks with senior Lebanese officials, LBCI reported.

The Saudi diplomat's visit comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity witnessed in Lebanon since the election of President Michel Aoun on November 31, that ended over two years of political vacuum, and the formation of PM Saad Hariri's cabinet.

A man who was reportedly injured in a blast in a town in Baalbek early this week, has succumbed to his wounds on Friday, the National News Agency reported.

Mahmouh Houri who was injured in a passenger bus blast in the town of al-Ain has died of his wounds early Friday, NNA added.

The Lebanese army busted a terror cell in north Lebanon and confiscated arms and ammunition that were in their possession, the state-run National News Agency reported Friday.

The Lebanese Army Intelligence Directorate arrested a terror cell composed of three extremists in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh, NNA said.

President Michel Aoun will kick start the first-leg of a Gulf tour in the middle of January, media reports said.

Preparations for President Aoun's first tour outside Lebanon have begun at the presidential palace and foreign ministry, amid reports saying Riyadh will be the first destination of his Gulf tour, al-Anbaa daily reported.

The Lebanese Forces welcomed Hizbullah's willingness for dialogue between the two parties and described the latest statement of a Hizbullah official in that regard as “positive and worth to be taken into consideration,” al-Joumhouria daily reported Friday.

“The latest statement of Hizbullah political council chief Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed from Bkirki, as for the party's openness for dialogue with the LF and readiness to have a wider range of communication, is positive rhetoric that is worth to take into consideration,” an LF source told the daily on condition of anonymity.