A Qatari envoy visiting Lebanon said on the sidelines of one his meetings on Tuesday that his country “still believes that Army Commander General Joseph Aoun is the most suitable candidate for the presidency” and that “Christians should unite behind him to prevent others from choosing the president,” a highly informed source said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has sent a list with the names of 15 presidential candidates to Hezbollah, Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat, a media report said on Wednesday.

A “day of prayer and contemplation” that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had called for, started Wednesday at Beit Anya in Harissa.

Fifty-three Christian MPs attended the spiritual meeting, that aims at unifying and connecting the Christian blocs amid a severe presidential crisis.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned two Lebanese brothers who are accused of selling "dangerously compromised fuel" to Lebanon's state utility company.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control blocked Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme from accessing U.S. bank accounts and the larger U.S. financial system. The brothers allegedly used their role as government subcontractors to import tainted fuel that caused "significant harm to Lebanese power plants."

A French judicial delegation will return in Lebanon on April 24, media reports said.

The report said that the delegation has asked Judge Charbel Abu Samra to question on its behalf Riad Salameh's brother, Raja, and his associate Marianne Hoayek on April 25.

Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh held a meeting overnight with Hezbollah officials, LBCI television reported.

A Qatari envoy visiting Lebanon, Mohammed bin Abdel Aziz al-Khulaifi, has not excluded the name of Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh from the list of presidential candidates in his meetings with Lebanese officials, political sources told al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi has opened the door for the municipal elections nominations starting Wednesday April 5 in the North, April 12 in Mount Lebanon, April 19 in Beirut and Bekaa and April 26 in the South.

The municipal elections will start on May 7 in the North, on May 14 in Mount Lebanon, on May 21 in Beirut and in Bekaa, and on May 28 in the South, Mawlawi said Monday, as he urged the government to secure the necessary funds and complete the administrative preparations.

The minister of state at the Qatari Foreign Ministry, Mohammed bin Abdel Aziz al-Khulaifi, met Tuesday with Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, in a shuttle tour between the Lebanese leaders over the presidential file.

The Qatari minister also met with Army chief Gen. Joseph Aoun.

Lebanon is investigating alleged embezzlement of over $300,000 at its Ukraine embassy, a judicial official told AFP on Monday, as sources say the cash-strapped country is trying to cut costs at diplomatic missions.

The probe was launched after financial irregularities came to light in September, the official said, requesting anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.