Saudi Arabian officials were not informed of the meeting between Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, stressing however that it is keen on the “situation of Christians in Lebanon”, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.

A diplomatic source told the daily: “Riyadh will not agree to the presidential candidacy of anyone who opposes the main views of the Christian ranks in Lebanon, especially Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea.”

The army announced Tuesday the arrest of a fugitive belonging to the extremist Islamic State group who had plotted to stage suicide attacks on military posts in the northern city of Tripoli.

“The Intelligence Directorate has arrested the fugitive Mazen Ahmed al-Hajj Hussein, aka Abou Ahmed and Saeed, on charges of belonging to the terrorist IS group and plotting acts of sabotage,” the army said in a statement.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced Tuesday that the Change and Reform bloc wants a president who would “truly” represent Christians in power, also urging a “balanced” government and a “fair” electoral law.

“The stance of the Change and Reform bloc is firm: political authority must stem from real popular will,” said Bassil after the bloc's weekly meeting in Rabieh.

U.S. President Barack Obama has called on Lebanese leaders to exert urgent efforts to put an end to the ongoing presidential vacuum, in a letter he sent to Prime Minister Tammam Salam on the occasion of Lebanon's Independence Day.

“For the sake of Lebanon's stability and security, now is the time for Lebanese leaders to act in the national interest and elect a president,” said Obama in the letter that was distributed by the U.S. embassy on Tuesday.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri met Kataeb Party chief MP Sami Gemayel in Paris and the two men agreed on the need to "exert every possible effort to end the presidential void," Hariri's office said on Tuesday.

Talks tackled “the developments in Lebanon and means to confront the looming challenges,” the press office said.

Two rockets fired from the Syrian side of the border landed in the northern region of Akkar on Tuesday, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the rockets landed on the banks of the Kabir River in the border town of al-Dababiyeh.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam revealed that contacts are ongoing to reach an agreement over exporting trash from Lebanon, reported An Nahar daily on Tuesday.

He told the daily: “Several questions remain and clarifications need to be made with the companies seeking to export the waste.”

Head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora held talks in Riyadh with Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri on his meeting with MP Suleiman Franjieh last week, reported the daily An Nahar Tuesday.

The talks focused on recent claims that Franjieh may be a new presidential candidate, who may break the deadlock in the dispute that has left the country's top post vacant since May 2014.

Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun noted that Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh has the needed characteristics to become president, adding that he is willing to back his bid for the presidency, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.

His visitors told the daily that the lawmaker is “willing to give his blessing to Franjieh's candidacy if he garners the necessary votes at parliament.”

A man was arrested Monday after killing his wife and uncle in the Bekaa city of Zahle.

George Abdul Sater “brandished an assault rifle in connection with previous disputes with his wife, which prompted his uncle, Toufic, to intervene in a bid to calm him down,” state-run National News Agency reported.