Speaker Nabih Berri had voiced concerns to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Lebanese officials may no longer be able to reach an “internal solution” to the deadlock over the presidential elections, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday.

He encouraged Ban to seek dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, “because an agreement between them may raise hope that an agreement may be reached over a president for Lebanon.”

March 8 alliance officials are seeking to convince Hizbullah to back Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh for the country's top Christian post, the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper reported on Monday.

The officials, who were not identified, are exerting efforts to persuade Hizbullah to drop its support for Free Patriotic Movement chief lawmaker Michel Aoun, it said.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that the demarcation of Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Mediterranean was among the issues he discussed with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon during his visit to the country last week, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday.

Berri told the daily that Ban was “receptive of an official Lebanese request that the U.N. demarcate the Lebanon's EEZ, which borders Israel.”

Lebanese security agencies have been warned by foreign officials that sleeper terrorist cells have received instructions to carry out attacks in Lebanon, the Kuwaiti daily al-Seyassah reported on Monday.

The newspaper said top officials, who have lately visited Lebanon, urged the agencies to be on high alert to thwart any possible attack by the cells that are linked to either the Islamic State group or al-Nusra Front.

A man shot dead his young wife on Sunday in the Bekaa city of Hermel, state-run National News Agency reported.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry noted Sunday that a recent Arab League resolution had labeled certain “acts” by Hizbullah as terrorist and not the entire organization.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri hoped Sunday that the “ongoing efforts” in the country will soon lead to the election of a new president.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday urged the Lebanese government to back ex-Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh in his bid to become head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Officials from the Free Patriotic Movement and al-Mustaqbal movement exchanged tirades on Sunday after FPM chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil warned that there are indirect efforts to naturalize Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stressed on Sunday that the failure to elect a president destroys Lebanon's unity and makes it an open ground for the naturalization of refugees.

“Refraining from electing a president for over two years now is gradually destroying our internal unity and Lebanon's position at the international level. It makes our country a free ground for the naturalization of refugees,” al-Rahi stated during the Easter mass held in Bkirki.