Lebanese authorities arrested the leader of the Bahraini opposition Haq movement after arriving at Rafik Hariri international airport on Tuesday, An Nahar daily said.

Hassan Mashaima was arrested after Lebanese authorities discovered he was wanted by Bahraini Interpol, the newspaper said Thursday.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Wednesday denied media reports that he has submitted his resignation to the Holy See for "political reasons."

In an interview with OTV in the Vatican on the sidelines of a ceremony to unveil the statue of Saint Maroun, Sfeir said: "They're free to say what they want, but the real reason is that I have reached the age of 90."

House Speaker Nabih Berri held talks on Wednesday with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati on the process of forming a new government.

The meeting, held at Ain al-Tineh in the presence of the speaker’s political adviser MP Ali Hasan Khalil, also addressed local and regional developments.

Lebanon’s ambassador to Australia said there were no Lebanese victims in the deadly earthquake that struck one of New Zealand's largest cities on Tuesday.

The foreign ministry said Wednesday that Ambassador Jean Daniel informed it that no Lebanese were injured or missing in the quake that hit the city of Christchurch.

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the “bloodbath committed by the regime of Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi against Libyan citizens demanding normal political freedom and rights.”

It called on in a statement after its weekly meeting “the Arab and international communities to take all measures to protect the Libyan people and guarantee their national and humanitarian rights.”

Protests sweeping the Middle East have given new impetus to Lebanese youths who have launched their own revolt on Facebook in a bid -- albeit improbable -- to bring down Lebanon's confessional system.

Using slogans popularized by protesters in Tunisia and Egypt, several pages urging the Lebanese to bring down the Mediterranean country's confessional "regime" or calling for a "day of wrath" against confessionalism, corruption and poverty have appeared recently on the social networking site.

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams reiterated on Wednesday that Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s government should continue to respect Lebanon’s international obligations.

Following talks with Caretaker Labor Minister Butros Harb, Williams said: “I reiterated to Minister Harb the importance that any new government continue to respect Lebanon’s international obligations.”

Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso conglomerate will acquire 70 percent of the Tabasco Oil Co. LLC, which has exploration and production operations in Colombia.

Grupo Carso announced the move in a brief statement to the stock exchange late Tuesday, saying it "marks the entrance of Grupo Carso into a new business sector in Latin America."

The statue of Saint Maroun was unveiled at Saint Peter’s square at the Vatican on Wednesday during a ceremony attended by President Michel Suleiman, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and Pope Benedict XVI.

A large number of Lebanese MPs, officials and former lawmakers also attended the event which was followed by a mass held by Sfeir.

A private Libyan jet that was prevented from landing at Beirut airport was carrying on board the Lebanese wife of one of Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi’s sons, Voice of Lebanon radio reported Wednesday.

VDL said Hannibal Gadhafi’s wife, who is from the Skaff family, and several members of the ruling family were aboard the jet that Lebanese aviation authorities refused to give the permission to land at Rafik Hariri international airport on Tuesday.