Speaker Nabih Berri rejected any negotiation with the jihadists who took more than 35 soldiers and policemen captive in the northeastern town of Arsal last week.

In remarks to As Safir newspaper published on Monday, Berri said: “Had Prime Minister Tammam Salam asked for my advice, I would have told him to resort to Qatar and Turkey to resolve this issue.”

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Monday that the latest Saudi grant made to boost the performance of security apparatuses in Lebanon will be deposited in the Central Bank after the cabinet approves it.

“We are currently drafting a formula to approve the grant based on the highest degrees of transparency,” Mashnouq said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

A meeting between head of al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri and Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is not on the agenda of the former premier.

According to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published on Sunday, the meeting between Hariri and Nasrallah will not be held any time soon as the rift with Hizbullah is still acute.

Former Premier and head of al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri expressed readiness to facilitate the election of a new head of state on the condition that the rival parties exert efforts to resolve the presidential deadlock.

Hariri's visitors said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper that the Sunni leader will not suggest the name of any candidate and would rather wait for the decision of Christians in this regard.

Former Premier and head of al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri on Saturday continued discussion over the one billion dollar Saudi grant to the military institution with army chief General Jean Qahwaji and Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

"Hariri met with PM Salam and Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq and the talks focused on managing the Saudi grant that is allocated to supporting the army and the security forces' needs to fight terrorism and strengthen security and stability in the country,” a statement released by the former Premier's office said.

No official stance has been released by the March 8 alliance over the return of head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri to Lebanon, but its circles hoped that his return will help resolve pending disputes in Lebanon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

Prominent March 8 sources hoped to the daily that the return “will not be employed to escalate the political rhetoric in Lebanon.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam stated that the heads of military agencies are supposed to make a list of their needs in order to determine the manner in which to spend the Saudi Arabian grant to the Lebanese army, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He revealed that his talks with head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri on Friday focused on the mechanism to spend the grant.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri informed Prime Minister Tammam Salam of his intention to make a personal donation to aid the residents of the northeastern town of Arsal who were affected by the army's clashes with Islamists earlier this week, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Saturday.

It said that he has decided to donate 15 million dollars to the town.

Former Prime Minister and the head of al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri stated on Friday that the mistakes committed by Hizbullah do not justify “responding with similar wrongdoings or harming the prestige of the state.”

"The role of al-Mustaqbal Movement is to protect moderation and prevent extremism from expanding and proliferating,” Hariri said in a released statement after an expanded meeting with party leaders at the Center House, following his surprise return to Lebanon earlier in the day.

The March 14 coalition held an extraordinary expanded meeting at the Center House on Friday evening, in the presence of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri for the first time in over three years following his surprising return to Lebanon earlier in the day.

The conferees called for controlling the Lebanese-Syrian border by deploying army troops supported by international peacekeeping forces, according to the stipulations of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.