The funeral procession for the head of the Democratic Renewal Movement, ex-MP Nassib Lahoud, was held at the St. George Cathedral in downtown Beirut in the presence of top officials, diplomats, dignitaries and family members.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, who on Saturday kicked off a five-day tour of Beirut parishes, presided over the memorial service.

A Lebanese man killed his wife and then tried to commit suicide in the al-Koura district of northern Lebanon on Friday night, local media reported.

The reports said Saturday that Ahmed Khodr Salibi shot his wife, Giselle Hanna, with a Kalashnikov rifle in her head and chest in the town of Kfarqahel.

Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel slammed Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Saturday for denying that an assassination attempt against his son MP Sami Gemayel had been thwarted.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio station (100.5), Gemayel said: “I was shocked when I heard the remarks of the interior minister.”

Speaker Nabih Berri is not likely to make any mediation attempts between Premier Najib Miqati and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun before the PM’s visit to Paris next week.

Al-Liwaa daily on Saturday quoted a Berri visitor as saying that a solution to the dispute between the two sides is not imminent.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Saturday that Premier Najib Miqati’s suggestion of candidates for posts reserved for Christians in state institutions during a cabinet session earlier in the week was “unconstitutional” and warned of reciprocity.

“We haven’t changed our stance in terms of the unconstitutionality of Miqati’s behavior either by holding onto the names that he suggested or by suspending the work of the government,” Bassil told An Nahar daily.

Premier Najib Miqati confirmed that there were no mediation efforts to resolve the government crisis that erupted after the cabinet sessions were suspended over a dispute between the PM and ministers loyal to Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.

“There are no contacts and no mediations to resolve the current crisis,” Miqati told An Nahar daily published Saturday.

The removal of a wall, adjacent construction and moving groundwater are among the likely causes of a recent fatal building collapse in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Fassouh, a preliminary report revealed on Friday.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who announced the report’s findings after heading a meeting for the follow-up committee tasked with probing the incident, said additional steps would be made before submitting a final report.

Hizbullah stressed on Friday the need for a productive government that can help alleviate the burdens of the Lebanese people, reported the National News Agency.

Hizbullah politburo member Ghaleb Abu Zainab stated: “It is therefore important for the governmental process to return to normal as soon as possible because its current paralysis will harm the Lebanese people.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that the March 14-led opposition is capable of toppling the government through popular protests.

He added however: “The current circumstances are not suitable for such an action.”

An Electricite du Liban bill collector has claimed that two gunmen stole more than LL4 million from him in the area of Rweiss in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the National News Agency reported Friday.

NNA identified the bill collector by his initials as A.Y.