A number of captive Lebanese servicemen are expected to be freed in a swap deal with the captors in the coming hours, reports said on Friday, as the General Security urged an end to media speculation.

“The Lebanese servicemen held by the Islamic State and al-Nusra Front will be freed tomorrow as part of a swap deal,” al-Mayadeen TV quoted a ministerial source as saying.

A delegation from the Kataeb Party held talks Friday with Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun in Rabieh, stressing that the main Christian political parties must reach a “common approach” on the thorny issue of the electoral law.

The delegation comprised Kataeb deputy chief Salim al-Sayegh and politburo member Albert Kostanian and the meeting was held in the presence of Change and Reform bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam declared Friday his support for “any rapprochement” between the country's political forces, while stressing that the priority must be the election of a new president.

“We back any rapprochement or openness between political forces and we stress that the top priority in any discussion or settlement proposal must be for the election of a president,” Salam said in a speech at the opening of the Beirut International Arab Book Fair at BIEL.

The Army Intelligence arrested al-Qaida linked al-Nusra Front member, Ali Ahmed al-Lakkis, who had executed soldier Mohammed Hamiyeh in the wake of the Arsal clashes in 2014, the LBCI said on Friday.

Lakkis, an expert at preparing explosives and close to the so-called emir of al-Nusra Front in Qalamoun Abu Malik al-Talli, was caught with a fake Syrian passport at the Rafik Hariri International Airport, LBCI added.

Iran will conduct medical tests to establish if a high-ranking diplomat died of suffocation at this year's hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, following widely contrasting accounts about his demise.

Suspicion has surrounded the case of Ghazanfar Roknabadi, 49, a former ambassador to Lebanon, with senior officials suggesting as late as two weeks ago that he was alive and being held hostage.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam chaired on Thursday a meeting of the committee tasked with addressing the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

Sources from talks told the daily that Lebanon has incurred in the past year 16 billion dollars in losses as a result of the crisis.

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh had held talks with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah prior to his talks with Mustaqbal Movement head MP Saad Hariri last week, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Friday.

Concerned sources told the daily that the MP had informed Nasrallah of the details of his expected talks with Hariri.

The parliamentary committee tasked with devising a new electoral law will hold its first meeting on Monday, reported An Nahar daily on Friday.

It said that the committee was scheduled to meet on Tuesday, but it decided to hold it on Monday instead.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell concluded on Thursday a four-day working visit to Lebanon, during which he held meetings with judicial representatives, other Lebanese officials, diplomats, and the Prosecutor’s staff in the Beirut office.

He met with Minister of Telecommunications Butros Harb, Minister of Justice Ashraf Rifi, and Prosecutor General Judge Samir Hammoud.

Saudi Arabia placed on Thursday a number of Hizbullah leaders and investment companies on its terrorism list due to their involvement in “operations throughout the Middle East.”

The Saudi Interior Ministry announced in a statement that 12 Hizbullah leaders and officials have been placed on the list.