Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday warned of a perceived attempt to “repeat the experience of the year 1998 and its spiteful policies.”

The bloc’s warning refers to the year in which Rafik Hariri was replaced as premier by Salim al-Hoss during Emile Lahoud’s term as president.

The Lebanese presidential palace said Tuesday that President Michel Aoun met with Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon Takeshi Okubo, the first known meeting between the president and a Japanese diplomat since the fugitive Carlos Ghosn arrived in Lebanon on December 30.

A statement released by Aoun's office said Okubo called for more cooperation from Lebanese authorities in order to avoid "negative repercussions" on relations between the two countries.

President Michel Aoun says the country is working to prevent rising tensions in the region from affecting stability at home.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun on Tuesday released Fadi al-Hashem, the husband of Lebanese popstar Nancy Ajram, the National News Agency said.

Carole Ghosn, who not so long ago was an influential but discreet figure in the New York fashion world, has been thrust into the limelight by the arrest of her tycoon husband Carlos, and his subsequent flight from Japan.

Prosecutors in Japan on Tuesday obtained an arrest warrant for Carole Ghosn, wife of former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn, who last month jumped bail and fled the country.

Protests against corruption and mismanagement continue in Lebanon amid ongoing attempts of PM-designate Hassan Diab to form a much-delayed government and the worst economic crisis since Lebanon's 1975-1990.

An American ex-soldier and a Lebanese former militiaman were on the plane that took off from Japan to Turkey with Carlos Ghosn on board, a media report said.

Citing information obtained from Turkish authorities, French weekly Le Point said only two names appeared on the registers of the Osaka-Istanbul flight operated by MNG Jet -- those of Michael Taylor and George Zayek, as revealed by U.S. daily The Wall Street Journal. The name of the third passenger, Carlos Ghosn, does not appear at all on the documents.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Monday voiced solidarity with Australia, where catastrophic bushfires have turned swathes of land into blackened hellscapes and destroyed an area about the size of the island of Ireland.

Bassil also instructed Lebanese diplomats in Australia’s Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne to inquire about the well-being of Lebanese expats and to stand by them.

The new government will not be formed on Monday or Tuesday, highly informed March 8 sources have said.

The remarks come despite reports that had suggested that PM-designate Hassan Diab would form his government by Tuesday at the latest.