Head of the Economic Committees Adnan Kassar announced on Friday that the committees will hold a meeting in the presence of several ministers to discuss some solutions that would steer the country's economic problems after media reports said the cabinet reached a settlement concerning the new wage scale for public employees.

Kassar said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail that the meeting will be held on Sunday, stressing that “it's not acceptable to tamper with the country's economy during this delicate situation.”

The General Prosecution hasn't been handed copies of recordings that al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Oqab Saqr claimed he sent to Judge Hatem Madi's office, high-ranking judicial sources said Friday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that General Prosecutor Madi hasn't received the three-part series of the recordings in which the lawmaker allegedly discussed arrangements with a Syrian rebel to ship arms supplies to the opposition.

The head of the Jamaa Islamiya political bureau Azzam al-Ayyoubi stressed on Thursday on the importance of dialogue between conflicting parties in the country, as “living together in harmony is the only option we have”.

Al-Ayyoubi, and after meeting with a Progressive Socialist Party delegation at the headquarters of the Jamaa in Beirut, said he appreciates the efforts made by the party's MPs in promoting PSP leader Walid Jumblat's initiative.

Ziad Takieddine, a Franco-Lebanese businessman who has been charged with corruption in the "Karachi" kickbacks affair is also being investigated for suspected money laundering after being detained with 1.5 million euros in cash, it emerged Thursday.

Judicial sources said Takieddine, who is allegedly embroiled in a string of illegal political financing scandals in France, had been caught with the money on a private flight out of Libya in March 2011, prior to the overthrow of Libya's then President Moammar Gadhafi.

Security forces discovered on Thursday an explosive in Beirut's Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood, reported various media outlets.

They said that security forces discovered a 120 mm mortar shell connected to a timer in a garbage dumpster in the area.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Oqab Saqr challenged the Syrian government and his Lebanese foes on Thursday to prove that he was providing rebels with weapons after he broadcast the original tapes in which reports said he was striking a deal to arm the fighters.

OTV and al-Akhbar newspaper, both close to the Hizbullah-led March 8 majority coalition, broadcast and printed a three-part series of the recordings in which the lawmaker allegedly discussed arrangements to ship arms supplies to the Syrian opposition.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr received on Thursday the case of former Minister Michel Samaha ahead of issuing an indictment in the affair, reported the National News Agency.

First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghaida referred the file to Saqr for assessment after he completed his investigations in the case.

Clashes renewed on Thursday in the northern city of Tripoli after a three-day violence linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria, with the death toll reaching 11 as an investigation has been launched in the matter.

Thirty-nine-year-old Hassan Abaydo was shot in the heart by a sniper in the Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen, Agence France Presse reported.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati concluded on Thursday his visit to Italy by holding talks with Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, who hailed the Lebanese government for its policy of disassociation from regional crises.

He said after the meeting: “The Italian government believes it is necessary for Lebanon to continue on disassociating itself from the Syrian conflict.”

Maronite Partiarch Beshara al-Rahi warned on Thursday against political divisions among the Lebanese and said the country's economic crisis had dangerous repercussions.

In his opening statement of the Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops held in Bkirki, al-Rahi lamented the lack of dialogue and said the political crisis has further widened the gap among the different parties.