A delegation from al-Mustaqbal movement will visit on Thursday the three presidential candidates in a bid to urge them to attend the next parliamentary session slated on March 2 to elect a president, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday.

Unnamed sources from March 14 alliance said that a Mustaqbal delegation will visit the Change and Reform bloc leader, MP Michel Aoun, Marada chief MP Suleiman Franjieh and Democratic Gathering bloc MP Henri Helou.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil warned Wednesday against what he called “breaking the will of Christians” in the issue of the presidential election, cautioning that such a step would affect Christian representation in all other state institutions and administrations.

“When there is a flaw in the presidency, it would affect all other state institutions, administrations and posts,” said Bassil after meeting Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

The mayor of Haifa in northern Israel said on Wednesday that he is grateful for threats made by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to attack the city's ammonia facility.

In 2006, Israel fought a war with Hizbullah in Lebanon, but when Nasrallah said Tuesday that "several of our rockets combined with the ammonia storage facility in Haifa will create the effect of a nuclear weapon," the local mayor seized the opportunity to highlight his city's environmental problems.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday accused Saudi Arabia and Turkey of mulling a ground operation in Syria with the aim of shoring up embattled rebels allegedly allied with them, as he downplayed the possibility of any Israeli war on Lebanon in the near future.

“The militants' successive defeats have pushed Saudi Arabia and Turkey to consider sending ground troops under the excuse of fighting Daesh (Islamic State group) under the banner of the international coalition and this is a very important development,” said Nasrallah in a televised speech marking Hizbullah's “Martyr Leaders Day”.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri stressed Sunday that his movement “does not fear” the election as president of any candidate who abides by the Taef Accord, noting that his latest proposal to nominate MP Suleiman Franjieh has stirred “the stagnant political waters” and led to a “historic reconciliation between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.”

“The Lebanese presidency deserves more attention and efforts than the Syrian, Iraqi or Yemeni presidencies. The country's interest lies in ending the siege on the presidency, the government and the parliament, not in taking part in besieging Madaya, Aleppo and the Syrian towns,” said Hariri in a speech marking the 11th anniversary of the assassination of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri, addressing Hizbullah.

The Lebanese army shelled positions of Islamic State militants in the Eastern Mountain Range, the state-run National News Agency said on Sunday.

The army targeted the positions of the militants that are close to the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and the northeastern town of Arsal in the Eastern Mountain Range, added NNA.

A personal dispute erupted at dawn in the Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Sidon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Sunday.

The dispute took place at the neighborhood of Safwari and escalated into armed clashes but no injures were reported.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri arrived in Beirut on Sunday to take part in the assassination anniversary of his slain father former PM Rafik Hariri, the National News Agency reported.

The Mustaqbal chief, himself a former premier, had arrived in Beirut at dawn from his self-imposed exile in Riyadh for the occasion and is due to speak later at a memorial service that will be held at 4:30 pm in BIEL commemorating the eleventh assassination anniversary.

Lebanon marks on Sunday the eleventh anniversary of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated on February 14, 2005.

This year's commemoration is marked amid conflicting reports whether any of the March 14 figures will boycott the event in light of the latest differences over the controversial file of the presidency.

Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil asserted on Friday that Lebanon's banking sector has been able to prove to the world and international bodies that our country is committed to international laws in their fight against terrorism and money laundering.

“Despite the deepening economic crisis that obstructed the constitutional institutions in Lebanon, starting with the election of a president, we have been able to put Lebanon's interest first which enabled the country and its banking sector to address international bodies and show them that Lebanon is committed to international laws in their fight against terrorism and money laundering,” said Khalil at the opening of the Banking Forum held at BIEL.