The Lebanese Forces snapped back Saturday at the Free Patriotic Movement in a growing war of words over an expected legislative session.

An armed clash broke out Friday afternoon near the Child And Mother Welfare Hospital and the al-Qassar Mosque in Beirut’s Aisha Bakkar, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea on Friday blasted the Free Patriotic Movement over its reported decision to attend a legislative session that Speaker Nabih Berri intends to call for.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will not invite Christian MPs to a meeting in Bkikri before confirming the “outcome and effectiveness” of such a move, sources informed on al-Rahi’s efforts said.

“He is inclined to first discuss the issue with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, to determine whether he and Hezbollah would positively receive any inter-Christian agreement,” the sources added, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Friday.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Friday defended himself anew in the face of a host of accusations.

“The lawsuits targeted against me are unfounded and I have submitted audited official documents,” Salameh said in an interview with Asharq TV.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon together with the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland have announced that they are “gravely concerned” about the current situation in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday stressed that the presidential election is “a national juncture and not only Christian or Maronite.”

A 4.2-magnitude earthquake hit five kilometers south of Lebanon's eastern Hermel region on Wednesday evening, Lebanon's National Center for Geophysics said.

A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party-led Democratic Gathering bloc on Wednesday held talks with MP Michel Mouawad.

The Lebanese rescue and medical team has managed to pull out several people from the rubble in earthquake-stricken Turkey.