Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hinted that the current parliament's term would be extended for six months if it was not able to agree on a new electoral law or amend the 1960 law, An Nahar daily reported Saturday.

In remarks to An Nahar's correspondent during his visit to Rome, Charbel said he would exert all efforts to amend the current law but did not rule out a six-month extension of the legislature's term during which the assembly would adopt a new draft-law or amend the 1960 law's articles on the deadline for the announcement of candidacies or the resignation from public sector posts.

The army on Friday arrested Syrian nationals who were preparing an explosive device with the aim of detonating it at an Ashoura procession set to be held on Saturday, media reports said.

"Army intelligence agents on Friday evening arrested five Syrians at a house in the Nabatiyeh neighborhood of al-Maslakh while they were preparing a 300-gram explosive device with the aim of detonating it during the Muharram (Ashoura) 9 procession that will be held tomorrow in the city of Nabatiyeh” in southern Lebanon, al-Jadeed television reported.

The Army Command said on Friday that the arrest of rap artist and the former candidate to the parliamentary elections Pierre Hashash came after “his statements offended the military institution and its members”.

“Hashash was arrested and questioned following statements he made on the eve of Independence Day,” the army' statement explained, adding that he “incited others to attack the military institution and tarnish its reputation on social networking websites”.

The number of Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon has reached 127,420 and their numbers in neighboring countries have nearly doubled since the beginning of September, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

"Across the region... the number of Syrian refugees in surrounding countries now stands at 442,256, an increase of more than 213,000 since the beginning of September," UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters in Geneva.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Thursday that no one should request the authorities to hand over suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination because they are innocent until proven guilty.

“No party has the right to request the handing over of the suspects because a suspect is innocent until proven guilty and the issue is up to the judiciary to decide,” al-Rahi said in response to a question on the request made by the March 14 opposition alliance.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun accused the March 14-led opposition of seeking to maintain the 1960s parliamentary electoral law for the 2013 elections.

He said in an interview to the FPM's facebook page: “The camp is boycotting parliament because it believes that by doing so, the 1960s law will be adopted in the June elections.”

Pope Benedict XVI met on Friday with President Michel Suleiman who is in Rome to attend the ceremony of the official appointment of Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi as cardinal.

Suleiman did not make any statement after the meeting held at the Vatican.

Speaker Nabih Berri cancelled on Friday a parliamentary session scheduled for next week, during which Armenian President Serzh Sargysyan was planned to address MPs.

“As several ministers and fellow lawmakers are attending the ceremony of appointing Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi as a cardinal at the Vatican, the session on November 27 has been cancelled,” Berri said in a statement.

Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani on Friday noted that “Lebanese leaders enjoy the sufficient capability to resolve their problems," adding that "some forces want to destabilize Lebanon but do not have the ability to do so."

Larijani was in Beirut as part of a regional tour aimed at finding ways to resolve the crisis in Syria, media reports said.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel vowed on Friday that the security forces and the army will detain any gunman on the streets.

“We will ban any appearance of gunmen,” Charbel said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).