Army Commander General Joseph Aoun on Saturday traveled to Qatar at an invitation from its deputy PM and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, the army said.

Former president Michel Aoun held talks Friday in Bkirki with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, hours after a visit to Bkirki by Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.

Lebanese actress Stephanie Saliba, who has links to Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, was arrested on Friday, a judicial official and the state-run National News Agency said.

The development is the latest in the controversy surrounding Salameh, who is being investigated for corruption as an economic meltdown and financial collapse convulse the tiny nation.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday called for an emergency cabinet meeting over media reports claiming that Hezbollah is using Beirut’s airport to bring weapons from Iran.

“This is a delicate, dangerous and emergency matter that requires an urgent and necessary meeting by the caretaker cabinet in order to gather all the needed information and take all the necessary measures to preserve the security and stability of the Lebanese,” Geagea said in a tweet.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday snapped back at Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil over accusations related to the possibility of holding dialogue over the country’s next president.

“Dialogue requires advocates of dialogue,” Geagea tweeted, responding to Bassil’s remarks.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Friday that Monday's caretaker cabinet session "shouldn't have happened" especially that many parties were absent.

A caretaker cabinet session was held on Monday despite being boycotted by the Free Patriotic Movement and the Tashnag party, triggering tensions between long-time allies Hezbollah and the FPM as MP Jebran Bassil blasted Hezbollah for attending the session and the latter responded that Bassil's comments were "inappropriate" and "unwise".

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Friday visited Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki and called for an agreement on the country’s new president.

“I continued with Patriarch al-Rahi the discussion of the issue of the presidency and the agreement on a candidate and I call on everyone to agree on a name,” Bassil said after the meeting.

The British Ambassador to Lebanon, Hamish Cowell, has visited the city of Tripoli for the first time. The visit aimed at understating the impact of the socioeconomic crisis on Tripolitans, and how UK funded projects are supporting livelihoods and community cohesion, the British Embassy said in a statement.

Ambassador Cowell met a range of individuals working to promote reconciliation, social cohesion and opportunities for young people in Lebanon’s second city, the statement said. This included the Tripoli Mayor Engineer Ahmad Kamareddine, security officials, project partners and beneficiaries, and U.N. agencies.

The Free Patriotic Movement on Thursday issued a rare statement criticizing its ally Hezbollah by name in connection with the controversy over the latest caretaker cabinet session.

“The last thing we wanted was to engage in a media exchange with Hezbollah, but the truth obliges us to clarify it and say that what was mentioned in the statement of Hezbollah’s media relations department was very ambiguous and carried a contradiction between keenness on the unanimity of the government’s components in taking decisions while not applying this to the attendance of sessions,” the FPM’s central media and communication committee said in a statement.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced Thursday that he would turn next week’s presidential election session into a parliamentary dialogue if the blocs agree to such a move.

“I will explore the opinion of all colleagues and parliamentary blocs regarding the issue of dialogue. If it turns out to be positive, I will turn next Thursday’s session into a dialogue session in parliament,” Berri said.