President Michel Suleiman and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi agreed on Thursday that the National Dialogue that is scheduled to be held at Baabda Palace next month is the only solution to the country’s lingering problems.

An Nahar daily reported Friday that Suleiman and al-Rahi discussed at the presidential palace the importance of holding all-party talks away from tension.

President Michel Suleiman traveled to Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, on a previously unannounced one-day visit, state-run National News Agency reported.

Suleiman’s visit comes after he received on May 22 a letter from the Saudi monarch saying the kingdom is monitoring the situation in Lebanon with “deep concern” following the latest clashes in Tripoli, “especially since they targeted a main sect in the country.”

A previously unknown armed group calling itself "Syrian Revolutionaries - Aleppo Countryside" on Thursday claimed that 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22 are in the group's custody and that they are in good health.

A statement carrying the group’s signature and sent to Qatar-based satellite news channel Al-Jazeera said negotiations to release the abductees “would only be possible after (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah apologizes for his latest speech.”

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Farid Habib, representative of the northern Koura district, passed away Thursday evening after a battle with illness.

Habib died at the Saint George Hospital in Ashrafiyeh where he was being treated.

Parts of the Hawd al-Wilaya Bridge in al-Basta al-Tahta area in Beirut collapsed on Thursday, prompting the Internal Security Forces to close it to traffic.

The ISF said in a statement that the collapse took place at around 3:30 p.m. and it has since closed off the bridge and diverted traffic around it.

The Military Court released from jail on Thursday Lebanese citizen, Ziad al-Homsi, after he served time on charges of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, reported al-Jadeed television.

Homsi was accused in December 2010 of collaborating with Israel and he was sentenced to 15 years in jail with hard labor.

President Michel Suleiman urged the Syrian authorities on Thursday to release the two Lebanese farmers who were kidnapped a day earlier in the border region of al-Abboudiyeh as the Syrian army abducted another citizen later on Thursday.

The Syrian army kidnapped Yehya Mohammed Fleiti in the border town of Arsal on Thursday afternoon.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati highlighted on Thursday Lebanon’s diversity, saying that it is an “example of the convergence of civilizations.”

He said: “The international community must help Lebanon preserve its diversity.”

The head of the Independence Movement Michel Mouawad visited Saudi Arabia this week at an invitation by its Foreign Ministry, announced his press office in a statement.

He held talks with deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah on the latest Lebanese and regional developments.

Iran is plotting attacks on politicians and diplomats in several countries, including Lebanese figures, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported on Thursday.

The daily said that U.S. media is expected to publish in the upcoming weeks reports about an Iranian network, which has planned to carry out assassination attempts.