The Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly al-Qaida's Syria affiliate al-Nusra Front – has taken the decision to eradicate the presence of the Islamic State group in the northeastern border town of Arsal and in the Qalamoun area, al-Akhbar daily reported on Monday.

The daily pointed out to the assassination of extremist IS official Abu Bakr al-Reqqawi a day earlier in Arsal, and said that his killing was part of the plan that has been put into implementation.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin assessed the latest meeting between al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri and Russian Foreign Minister Alexander Zaspikin as positive and friendly, and emphasized that the presidential file in Lebanon is an internal affair, As Safir daily reported on Monday.

Discussions between the two men focused on the file of the Lebanese presidency and the repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon, added the daily.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea warned that the failure of al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri's initiative to bring MP Michel Aoun to the post of the presidency, will open Lebanon to “horrifying” risks, as he stressed that Hariri is very serious with regard to Aoun's nomination, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat daily reported on Saturday.

“Hariri is serious with regard to his initiative, but he only needs time to build an understanding with Aoun and to convince his supporters to elect him after the shifting political relations between the two parties,” Geagea told the daily in an interview.

As soon as he returned from a trip to Moscow and Riyadh, al-Mustaqbal Movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri tasked one of his representatives to hold contacts with MP Michel Aoun to brief him on Saudi Arabia's “initial” positive position with regard to his nomination for the presidency, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

Although the Saudi stance is still indecisive, but the news was assessed as positive in Rabieh, the daily added.

Change and Reform parliamentary bloc sources said on Friday that the partial participation of ministers of the Free Patriotic Movement in Thursday's cabinet session must not be taken for granted, and that the movement will assess its participation in the meeting each time the cabinet convenes, al-Akhbar daily said on Friday.

“The partial participation in yesterday’s cabinet meeting does not mean a blank cheque. Our decision to participate in the cabinet meeting will be assessed each time the cabinet convenes,” Change and Reform sources told the daily.

Police detained a man accused of involvement in a hit-and-run car accident that left the victim dead in the northern town of Bsharri, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Police arrested Sh.Y. on October 1 on accusations of crashing into a female victim, A.L., on the Mogr al-Ahwal highway in Bsharri which led to her immediate death, NNA added.

A German court on Thursday convicted four men who procured tens of thousands of euros worth of supplies for the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group in Syria of supporting a terrorist organization.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam chaired a cabinet meeting on Thursday at the Grand Serail, where the ministers discussed the agenda's items that have been pending since the last session two weeks ago.

The session witnessed a hot debate between the ministers over the thorny issue of appointments.

AMAL MP Qassem Hashem defended on Thursday Speaker Nabih Berri against claims that he is hindering the election of a president and stressed that the Speaker has always sought for ending the vacuum at the top Christian post.

“Speaker Berri has never sought-after disruption, he has always worked to find a solution that ends the vacuum at the level of the presidency,” said Qassem in an interview to VDL (93.3).

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Hani al-Hajjar has given the orders to rearrest Sheikh Bassam al-Tarras, who was briefly held and then released before Eid al-Adha, in the case of the Ksara bombing that rocked the city of Zahle in August, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

In September, the General Security held Sheikh al-Tarras in accusations of meeting Islamic State members and the attack's mastermind during a visit to Turkey.