United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major-General Paolo Serra denied on Friday obtaining any information about an assassination bid targeting Speaker Nabih Berri.

“Serra has no information about this matter,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected on Friday to announce a clear stance on the conditions set by the alleged kidnappers of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria.

Nasrallah is scheduled to make a speech in UNESCO via video link during a ceremony organized by the Iranian embassy to commemorate the death of the Islamic revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

President Michel Suleiman and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi agreed on Thursday that the National Dialogue that is scheduled to be held at Baabda Palace next month is the only solution to the country’s lingering problems.

An Nahar daily reported Friday that Suleiman and al-Rahi discussed at the presidential palace the importance of holding all-party talks away from tension.

President Michel Suleiman traveled to Saudi Arabia on Friday for talks with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, on a previously unannounced one-day visit, state-run National News Agency reported.

Suleiman’s visit comes after he received on May 22 a letter from the Saudi monarch saying the kingdom is monitoring the situation in Lebanon with “deep concern” following the latest clashes in Tripoli, “especially since they targeted a main sect in the country.”

A previously unknown armed group calling itself "Syrian Revolutionaries - Aleppo Countryside" on Thursday claimed that 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22 are in the group's custody and that they are in good health.

A statement carrying the group’s signature and sent to Qatar-based satellite news channel Al-Jazeera said negotiations to release the abductees “would only be possible after (Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan) Nasrallah apologizes for his latest speech.”

Lebanese Forces bloc MP Farid Habib, representative of the northern Koura district, passed away Thursday evening after a battle with illness.

Habib died at the Saint George Hospital in Ashrafiyeh where he was being treated.

Parts of the Hawd al-Wilaya Bridge in al-Basta al-Tahta area in Beirut collapsed on Thursday, prompting the Internal Security Forces to close it to traffic.

The ISF said in a statement that the collapse took place at around 3:30 p.m. and it has since closed off the bridge and diverted traffic around it.

The Military Court released from jail on Thursday Lebanese citizen, Ziad al-Homsi, after he served time on charges of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, reported al-Jadeed television.

Homsi was accused in December 2010 of collaborating with Israel and he was sentenced to 15 years in jail with hard labor.

President Michel Suleiman urged the Syrian authorities on Thursday to release the two Lebanese farmers who were kidnapped a day earlier in the border region of al-Abboudiyeh as the Syrian army abducted another citizen later on Thursday.

The Syrian army kidnapped Yehya Mohammed Fleiti in the border town of Arsal on Thursday afternoon.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati highlighted on Thursday Lebanon’s diversity, saying that it is an “example of the convergence of civilizations.”

He said: “The international community must help Lebanon preserve its diversity.”