The French foreign ministry on Friday said that it is “up to the Lebanese officials” to form the new government, refusing to comment further on the appointment of Hassan Diab as PM-designate.

A spokeswoman for the ministry however said that the formation of the new government should respect “the public interest of all Lebanese.”

Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab on Friday warned that the situation in Lebanon “does not allow for any waste of time,” vowing to “intensify consultations to reach the result that the Lebanese are hoping for.”

“The responsibility for Lebanon’s rise is huge and everyone is aware of the economic and financial challenge that the country is going though. Let us begin a new journey that resembles the will of the people,” Diab tweeted.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri received on Friday at the Center House, Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab.

Scuffles erupted between the Lebanese army and supporters of ex-PM Saad Hariri in Beirut’s Corniche al-Mazraa street on Friday, over the designation of AUB professor Hassan Diab for PM.

Lebanon's new prime minister-designate, Hassan Diab, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle aired Friday that he expected full European and US support for his government.

He rejected suggestions that the support his nomination received from Hizbullah, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, would hinder the disbursement of much-needed Western aid.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale arrived in Beirut to meet with a broad range of Lebanese officials, the U.S. embassy said in a statement on Friday.

Hale held talks with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace after which he read a statement saying his visit to Lebanon came at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Former PM Saad Hariri said in a telephone interview Thursday evening on Sar al-Waqt MTV program that salvation of Lebanon can be attained through the formation of a government of specialists, urging everyone to join efforts and listen to the demands of the revolution in light of the economic and political crisis.

Protesters blocked roads across crisis-hit Lebanon Friday to condemn the designation of Hizbullah-backed Hassan Diab as prime minister in a divisive vote that sparked uproar among members of the Sunni community.

In the Bekaa region, roads blocked with burning tires and dirt mounds late on Thursday are still inaccessible today, and include: Qob Elias, Dahr al-Baydar, Jdeita, Bwerij and Majdal Anjar.

Caretaker Prime Minister and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on Thursday urged his supporters not to take to the streets or block roads, in the wake of the appointment of the academic and ex-minister Hassan Diab as PM-designate.

“I call on all supporters and enthusiasts to reject any call for taking to the streets or blocking roads,” Hariri tweeted, after his supporters blocked roads in several Lebanese regions and rallied outside Diab’s house in Tallet al-Khayat.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat took a swipe Thursday at his former March 14 allies al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces for refraining from voting for Lebanon’s former envoy to the U.N. Nawaf Salam in the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new PM.

“It is not strange for the March 8 forces to choose their candidate and succeed in doing so, seeing as they at least have a project,” Jumblat tweeted.