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.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri won a parliamentary vote of confidence after 87 lawmakers voted in favor of his government on Wednesday.

Kataeb MPs Sami Gemayel, Nadim Gemayel and Samer Saadeh, and MP Khaled Daher withheld their confidence from the cabinet.

After the killing incident of army Corporal Ali al-Qaq on Monday, the Lebanese Army Airborne Regiment stormed several homes at dawn on Tuesday in the border town of al-Qasr in northeast of the Hermel district in search for the culprits, the National News Agency reported.

The army said the homes stormed in al-Qasr were of people suspected of involvement in the death of Qaq, who was gunned down while on vacation in Syria.

A request raised by State Minister for Parliament Affairs and Syrian Social Nationalist Party leader Ali Qanso to include a clause on Syria in the new drafted policy statement was not taken into consideration by the cabinet, the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily reported Tuesday.

In that regard, when the cabinet was drafting its policy statement last week, Qanso said the statement should include a clause about “coordination with Damascus with whom we have agreements,” a ministerial source told the daily on condition of anonymity.

Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan stated on Monday that the priority of the newly elected government is to issue a new electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary elections that ensures political stability in Lebanon, stressing that his (Hizbullah) party adheres to proportional representation, the National News Agency reported.

Lebanon's parliament prepares to hold three consecutive sessions this week to discuss the government’s vote of confidence, which is expected to garner a confidence majority due to its composition that brought together most of the political spectrum, the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily reported Monday.

The parliament will convene on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the ministerial statement of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government, which was endorsed in a record time, on the basis of which the government would seek a vote of the parliament's confidence.

State Minister for combating corruption Nicolas Tueni stated on Monday that keenness of all political parties to help the new term of President Michel Aoun succeed, has contributed to an unprecedented speedy formation of the policy statement, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily reported Monday.

“The consensus and will of all political parties, without exception, for the success of the new term in addition to the political savvy of President of the Republic (Michel Aoun, Prime Minister (Saad Hariri and Speaker (Nabih Berri) have all contributed to the record time endorsement of the ministerial statement,” said Tueni in an interview to the daily.

Speaker Nabih Berri called the parliament on Saturday to convene next week in order to discuss the government policy statement, the National News Agency reported.

Berri called the lawmakers for meetings over three consecutive days starting Tuesday through Thursday where the meetings will begin at 11:00 a.m.