U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Lebanon’s political leaders to “work together to implement reforms,” in tweets that follow his official visit to Lebanon. work together to implement reforms

U.S. officials denied Thursday that an American citizen arrested in Turkey for allegedly providing a fake passport to a Syrian man is a U.S. diplomat.

The Higher Defense Council on Wednesday decided to extend the so-called Covid-19 state of general mobilization until March 31.

The Council also asked military and security agencies to maintain full preparedness to “secure a safe holidays period.”

Turkish authorities have arrested an American diplomat working for the U.S. Consulate in Lebanon for allegedly providing a fake passport to a Syrian national, Turkey's state-run news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Anadolu Agency said the suspect, identified by his initials D.J.K., was detained at Istanbul Airport on Nov. 11, and was later formally arrested on suspicion of selling the forged passport to the Syrian national for $10,000.

President Michel Aoun on Wednesday said the boycott of Cabinet sessions by Hizbullah and the Amal Movement is “unacceptable,” noting that any objections should be addressed through institutions.

“Cabinet must convene and I’m not obliged to alone sign any resolution,” Aoun said at a Higher Defense Council meeting.

The U.N. chief has warned that the international community is unlikely to come forth with much-needed support for Lebanon amid its persistent government paralysis and as the country struggles through a "very dramatic" crisis.

Antonio Guterres' remarks came at the end of his three-day visit during which he repeatedly urged Lebanon's political leadership to work together to resolve the economic and financial crisis. He also met with members of civil society groups and the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement MP Mario Aoun told the VDL (93.3) radio that his bloc did not expect the Constitutional Council’s ruling, considering it a “flop.”

He added that his bloc has asked Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri for an urgent session to “debrief the government about many things including the Constitutional Council’s decision.”

Head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat lauded the Constitutional Council’s ruling, saying that it is a failure for the Free Patriotic Movement.

"The FPM has failed, especially in its hope to restrict the voting of expatriates,” Jumblat said in a press interview.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said he won’t comment on Jebran Bassil’s speech “whatever he says.”

Berri told Nidaa al-Watan newspaper, in remarks published Wednesday, that the Constitutional Council decision was made, and that “we should abide by it.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Tuesday lashed out at Hizbullah and the Amal Movement over the Constitutional Council’s failure to issue a ruling on an appeal filed by the FPM against the electoral law’s amendments.

“The Constitutional Council has committed suicide,” Bassil said in a televised address.