The Observatoire Européen pour l'Integrité du Liban said Monday that French judge Aude Buresi will arrive in Lebanon in the upcoming hours to question Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh.

The interrogation will take place in the presence of First Investigative Judge of Beirut Charbel Abou Samra, the observatory said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea met Monday with Maronite Archbishop of Antelias Antoine Bou Najem over the presidential crisis.

Assigned by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, Bou Najem had started last month to meet Christian leaders in an attempt to secure Christian consensus over the presidential file.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Monday urged those who consider cabinet meetings as illegitimate to go ahead and elect a president.

Mikati's statement came after a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, during which they discussed the Taif Agreement, the presidential file and Mikati's visit to the Vatican.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday rejected that a president be “imposed” on the Lebanese as well as “vetoes” on presidential candidates.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is preparing to visit Riyadh in the coming period, should circumstances allow him to carry out such a visit, highly informed sources have said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said Friday that “Lebanon needs Lebanese rapprochement, not Iranian-Saudi rapprochement,” a few hours after Tehran and Riyadh announced a reconciliation agreement.

Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called for dialogue over Lebanon’s presidential crisis and said an Iranian-Saudi reconciliation announced earlier in the day “can only help” in the file but that no candidates can be “imposed.”

“We welcome any foreign assistance but we do not accept dictations,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.

Higher Islamic Shiite Council deputy chief Sheikh Ali al-Khatib congratulated Friday Iran and Saudi Arabia over their agreement to resume ties after seven years of tensions, and hoped the reconciliation would reflect positively on Lebanon.

Iran and Saudi Arabia earlier on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies. The major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated with China lowers the chance of armed conflict between the nations — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.

Independent MP Charbel Masaad on Friday stormed a bank in the southern city of Sidon to demand that a depositor be paid his money in cash, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The lawmaker, who is still inside the bank, held “banks, the banking system and the central bank governor responsible for people’s suicide,” NNA added.

As Suleiman Franjieh prepares to hold a press conference to announce his presidential platform and his vision for the controversial files in the country, a “credible figure” told the Nidaa al-Watan daily that Riyad is categorically opposed to Franjieh’s nomination.

“The decisive Saudi rejection closes the door firmly in the face of any possibility for his election as president,” the source added.