Bkerki’s spokesperson Walid Ghayad said Thursday that Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari did not discuss with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi the names of any presidential candidates, in a meeting they had Tuesday in Bkerki.

Ghayad told al-Jadeed TV that Bukhari did not support or oppose the election of any candidate, but rather mentioned the qualifications needed in a president.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh on Wednesday hit out at his Christian rivals for reversing their stance on the boycott of presidential election sessions.

The Free Patriotic Movement on Wednesday called for the election of “a president who embodies a complete salvation and reform program, in line with what was said in the presidential priorities paper that has been proposed by the FPM.”

Thirty-eight countries at the U.N. Human Rights Council have condemned the political obstruction of Lebanon’s domestic investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement’s nomination of Suleiman Franjieh for the presidency was not a “surprising move” but it might “activate the presidential election file,” MP Ghassan Hasbani of the Lebanese Forces said on Wednesday.

Women and girls will be at the heart of the UK's international work as the British Foreign Secretary launches a new strategy to tackle gender inequality around the world, a statement said.

There is no political communication between the Free Patriotic Movement and the Lebanese Forces, FPM MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday.

"The coordination is limited to some specific files in parliament," Kanaan said.

The Free Patriotic Movement does not intend to boycott presidential vote sessions “until the moment,” MP Salim Aoun of the FPM said on Wednesday.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Walid Bukhari has openly told Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi that KSA refuses the nomination of Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh for presidency, al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday.

Al-Rahi and Bukhari had met Tuesday in Bkerki over the Lebanese presidential file. Bkerki’s spokesperson told the media after the meeting that the qualifications that al-Rahi wants in a president are not too far from those of Bukhari, adding that when there are qualifications, there will definitely be a Saudi veto on those who don’t have these qualifications.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Wednesday chaired a ministerial-security meeting at the Grand Serail.

The National News Agency said the meeting demonstrated "the situations of the military institution and the relation between the Defense Ministry and the Army Command."