President Michel Suleiman held talks on Friday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi and former Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir at the Baabda palace.

The president congratulated al-Rahi for his election, commending Sfeir’s tenure as patriarch for 25 years and awarding him the Order of the Cedars.

Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi stressed on Friday the need for Lebanon to take an official stance and respond to Israeli leaks of military and security plans to attack Lebanon.

It should retaliate through a media, political, and diplomatic campaign that would prevent the Jewish state from “fabricating facts before the international public opinion.”

The Israeli military held a set of war games this week aimed at preparing the army for all-out war with Hizbullah, Syria and Hamas, the Jerusalem Post reported.

The drill did not include soldiers or live-fire exercises, but was held to drill commanders and their decisions in the event of a large-scale war on multiple fronts, it said.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati reportedly met with President Michel Suleiman on Thursday night, the same day he sent his brother Taha and nephew Azmi to Damascus.

An Nahar daily said Friday that the Miqati-Suleiman meeting took place at the president’s residence and not his office. As for the envoys that Miqati sent to Syria, well-informed sources told As Safir newspaper that Taha and Azmi Miqati held talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached the region, sparking panic in Lebanon over the possibility of the dangers the radiation poses on human health, according to Israeli reports on Thursday.

Officials from Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research conducted a study in the area to verify whether the radiation had actually reached Lebanon.

Lebanese expatriates in strife-torn Ivory Coast feared for their lives on Friday after reports of heavy fighting near strongman Laurent Gbagbo's residence and presidential palace in Abidjan where there are 20,000 Lebanese.

Gunmen have looted the shops and businesses belonging to Lebanese in several cities, Beirut media reported. But Ambassador Ali Ajami confirmed to Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami that the more than 50,000 Lebanese in the African country were so far safe.

High-ranking security sources have expressed fear that Wael Abbas, the ringleader of the cell that kidnapped the seven Estonians, might have handed over the hostages to another network.

The sources told An Nahar daily on Friday that Abbas could have also transferred the cyclists, who were kidnapped near Zahle’s industrial zone on March 23, “to outside the Lebanese territories,” in reference to Syria.

Speaker Nabih Berri confirmed on Friday that he suggested a way out of the difficulties that are facing the new government formation, but refused to give its details.

“I suggested a solution to solve the complications facing the cabinet lineup,” Berri remarked to As-Safir newspaper.

Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil has stressed that the Change and Reform bloc “hasn’t yet reached the point of regret” for nominating Najib Miqati as premier but described the status quo as “dangerous” which will impose a review of the bloc’s policies.

In remarks to An Nahar daily published Friday, Bassil said that Miqati believed the bloc’s demand for 12 ministers in the new cabinet was exaggerated.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri credited on Thursday slain former Premier Rafik Hariri with rebuilding Beirut, saying that he helped transform it from a ghost town to a “city of dreams.”

Hariri made his statements during a ceremony unveiling a statue of the former prime minister before the Grand Serail in downtown Beirut.