Speaker Nabih Berri expressed his disappointment over the manner in which former Minister Michel Samaha was released from jail after he was arrested on terrorism charges, reported various media on Saturday.

His visitors quoted him as saying that the Military General Prosecution “should have awaited the verdict” before releasing the former minister.

Cabinet is expected to hold a new session after two weeks due to Prime Minister Tammam Salam's foreign commitments, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It said that in the meantime, contacts are being held between Speaker Nabih Berri, Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji over the divisive issue of the military appointments.

The Saudi grant to the Lebanese army is not facing new obstacles and should be implemented “soon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

A high-ranking military source told the daily that “some technical details need to be addressed.”

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi will make a request before cabinet to refer the trial of former Minister Michel Samaha to the judicial council in wake of his release from jail despite the damning evidence against him in his involvement in bombing plots in Lebanon, reported An Nahar daily on Saturday.

He will also submit to cabinet a draft-law that he prepared to eliminate extraordinary trials and instead call for the establishment of “judicial powers” concerned with “significant and terrorist” crimes

A Lebanese official on Friday acknowledged European concerns about safety regulations at the Beirut airport, saying the facility needs improvement but adding that recent reports that the airport does not meet international safety standards are "exaggerated."

Mohammed Qabbani, head of Parliament's public works and transport committee, also said that Lebanon will use part of a $25 million Saudi grant to buy scanners and other new inspection machines to ensure more security in and around the airport.

Young supporters of the March 14 coalition staged a rally on Friday outside ex-minister Michel Samaha's house in Ashrafieh to protest his controversial release from prison.

They gathered at Sassine Square before marching towards the former minister's nearby residence.

Former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil al-Sayyed announced Friday the end of his friendship with ex-minister Michel Samaha, a day after the latter was released from jail under a controversial Military Court ruling.

“My support for ex-minister Michel Samaha's family was an ethical duty and a commitment not to leave them during the time of hardship,” Sayyed said in a tweet.

General Security said Friday it has arrested a Lebanese man suspected of involvement in the suicide bombings that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs in November last year.

The general-directorate of General Security said in a statement that D.S. was apprehended for his involvement in the double suicide blast that rocked a busy shopping street in Bourj al-Barajneh on November 12.

Two men were on Friday seriously injured in a gunfight in the coastal town of Jbeil, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said F.H. opened fire at F.B. and A.B. with a hunting rifle following a dispute.

Islamist inmates in Roumieh prison went on a hunger strike on Friday in protest at the release of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, in what seems to be a call for their own release under pretext that they have served their sentence.

“The Islamic inmates from Tripoli began a hunger strike in protest at the release of Samaha,” said inmate Ziad Allouki in an audio recording, according to LBCI.