Al-Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri on Wednesday expressed willingness to offer financial aid aimed at conducting repair works in Tripoli's Syria Street, the scene of fierce clashes over the past years that left scores of casualties.

According to the Hariri-owned Future TV, the former premier sent a letter to Prime Minister Tammam Salam, offering a “grant to renovate Syria Street in Tripoli.”

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has discussed with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal the presidential deadlock as al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri intensified his meetings to avoid a vacuum, An Nahar daily reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said that Bassil held long discussions with al-Faisal on Tuesday, which required him to stay another day in Riyadh.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has suggested the one-year extension of President Michel Suleiman's six-year tenure, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Al-Rahi made his proposal during talks with al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri in Paris last week, the daily said.

Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel said his candidacy for the presidency would only become real if lawmakers failed to elect Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, revealing his ambition to become a consensual candidate.

“If the March 14 alliance … was able to break the barricade that surrounds Geagea, then it would reach its objective,” Gemayel told the Saudi Okaz daily published on Sunday.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri continued his talks with various officials on the presidential elections by meeting with Lebanese Forces MP Sethrida Geagea at his Paris residence, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

It said that the former PM and Geagea tackled the latest developments related to the polls.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun will “not wait forever” for the Mustaqbal Movement to agree to his nomination for the presidential elections, warned his visitors according to al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

They cautioned: “Lebanon will enter a dangerous phase should the MP not be elected president.”

The March 8 alliance is divided on the candidacy of Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun for the presidency, the Kuwaiti al-Anba daily reported on Friday.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that some March 8 members, including Hizbullah, are hoping Aoun would decide to give up his bid for the presidency.

Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon said he would accompany Prime Minister Tammam Salam in his tour to lure back Arab tourists to Lebanon after a steady decline in their numbers in the past years.

The tourism “sector lately witnessed a sort of movement after Turkish and Egyptian and even Kuwaiti citizens visited Lebanon during the Easter holidays,” Pharaon said.

Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri is keen on continuing talks with Free Patriotic Movement officials, in light of his recent meeting with Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

It said that the former premier is eager to develop ties between the two sides and that the talks should cover other issues besides the presidential elections.

For the second day in a row, the French capital continued to be the meeting place for talks on the presidential elections, as former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Wednesday.

A statement issued by Hariri's office said that the meeting started at 7:30 pm at the residence of al-Mustaqbal Movement's head in Paris, and that both men discussed the latest developments in the country, and on top of them the presidential race.