The influential Arab countries want to end Lebanon’s presidential vacuum before mid-June, a media report said on Friday.

“Important developments” over the past few days have pushed France to believe that Suleiman Franjieh’s nomination for the presidency has reached a dead end, a media report said.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri called Thursday for a legislative session that will take place on Tuesday and during which the MPs will vote on a draft law for extending the municipalities' term.

Two draft laws have been submitted by Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab and MP Sajih Atiyeh. The first aims at extending the municipalities' term by 4 months, and the second extends the municipal councils' term by a year.

French presidential adviser for near eastern affairs Patrick Durel visited Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to continue discussions over the file of Lebanon’s presidential vacuum, LBCI television reported.

Durel has recently met in Paris with Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh – the presidential candidate of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has said that the reality of the crisis is the existence of an "illegal armed organization," usurping the strategic decision of the state.

"The last example is what we witnessed in the south last week," he added.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Thursday called for a caretaker cabinet session on April 18.

The session has nine items on its agenda, most notably increasing the salaries and transport allowances of the public and private sectors and the funding needed for the municipal elections.

Caretaker Energy Minister Walid Fayyad said Thursday that the electricity plan has relatively and slightly succeeded.

In a press conference, Fayyad said that power supply has reached four to five hours per day instead of 8 to 10 due to limited funding.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi met Thursday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkerki and discussed the municipal elections.

"I have stressed on the need to hold the municipal elections," Mawali said, after the meeting.

Judge Ghada Aoun will lift Thursday a travel ban imposed on the country's embattled central bank chief, who has been summoned for a hearing in Paris next month, two judicial officials said.

Riad Salameh is part of a political class widely blamed for Lebanon's unprecedented economic crisis that the World Bank says is of a scale usually associated with wars.

Al Mawarid Bank chairman and ex-Lebanese minister Marwan Kheireddine has been charged in France and slapped with a travel ban without being detained.