Britain slammed on Friday the statements made by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq that it encouraged the nomination of Marada chief MP Suleiman Franjieh for the post of president.

"We do not support or oppose any particular candidate for the presidency. The election of a president is the decision, and the responsibility, of the Lebanese,” said a statement issued by the British embassy in Beirut.

Resigned Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi stated on Thursday that he is no longer in the al-Mustaqbal movement but that he will continue to defend the political path of late PM Rafik Hariri.

“I am not in the al-Mustaqbal movement, but I am a fierce fighter in defense of the political Harirism,” said Rifi in reference to the political path of late PM Rafik Hariri.

Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb said on Thursday that the municipal elections have shown the people's yearning to practice their democratic right through elections and warned against staging the parliamentary elections before the election of a president.

“Staging the parliamentary elections before the presidential ones will push Lebanon towards an undefined adventure,” said Harb in a press conference.

The General Security announced on Thursday the arrest of a Syrian national on charges of belonging to a terror group after providing his accomplices with arms and logistical support.

“Based on the General Prosecutor's request, and within the framework of follow-up activities of terror groups and their sleeper cells, the General Security arrested Syrian M.M. for his affiliation to a terror group,” said the the General Security Directorate in a statement.

The Lebanese army killed an Islamic State group militant and arrested three others in Khirbet Daoud in Akkar, media reports said on Thursday.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi ruled out on Wednesday that the Syrian refugees and Palestinians will be resettled in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency said.

Grandi's comments came after a meeting he held with Labor Minister Sejaan Qazzi in Geneva where he is taking part in the International Labor Conference.

The cabinet is scheduled to convene on Thursday to tackle several issues, including the controversial issues of the Janna Valley dam and the waste management file, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

Sixty-one items have been added to the cabinet's agenda, which still carries eight items from its previous session.

Speaker Nabih Berri said that time is not in favor of stalling over reaching an agreement on a new electoral draft-law and pointed out that the momentum witnessed during the municipal elections enhances the chances of adopting a proportional electoral law, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.

“Time is not in favor of a standstill with regard to the electoral law. What happened during the municipal elections heightens the momentum towards the adoption of a proportional law, particularly that the polls have shown that no single party can monopolize a specific sect,” visitors to Berri quoted him as saying.

MP Hassan Fadlallah stated after the parliamentary media committee meeting on Tuesday, that the ISF chief Maj. Gen. Ibrahim Basbous has not given the approval yet to question ISF members and officials with regard to the installment of illegal internet equipment.

“The judiciary will question ISF officers and members who were present in their positions close to the locations where the network equipment was installed, but we have not obtained yet the approval of ISF chief on that,” said Fadlallah.

Political official of the al-Jamaa al-Islamiya in the North and Tripoli Ihab Nafeaa submitted his resignation on Tuesday in protest to the outcome of the municipal elections in the northern city, the state-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday.

“Agreements and alliances were formed in the municipal elections in Tripoli which did not live up to the expectations of many in the city,” said Nafeaa in a statement announcing his resignation.