Saudi Arabia on Friday welcomed the verdicts that have been issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon against “two agents of the terrorist Hezbollah militia” over their role in “the terrorist attack that killed 22 people including ex-PM Rafik Hariri.”

“The international community must shoulder its responsibilities towards Lebanon and its brother people, who are suffering from the terrorist practices of the Iran-backed militia,” the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.

President Michel Aoun has given time to the parliamentary blocs to name a new PM because he wants "to form a government not to designate a PM without formation," Baabda sources reportedly said.

The sources denied that Aoun would meet the blocs before Thursday, while sources from the opposition forces told Asharq al-Awsat, in remarks published Friday, that Aoun has delayed the consultations to have the time to agree with the blocs on a name.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Norman Farrell has noted that the conviction of Salim Ayyash, Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi over their participation in the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri should not be “the final step towards accountability,” calling on Hezbollah to hand over its three members to authorities.

“Today we witnessed the completion of these proceedings against Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Habib Merhi et Hussein Hassan Oneissi, the three convicted persons for their heinous acts in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which caused incredible pain and suffering to the many victims and their families,” Farrell said in a statement, shortly after the STL Appeals Chamber sentenced Merhi and Oneissi to life imprisonment.

Head of Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), Dorothée Le Fraper du Hellen, has thanked the Defense Counsel after appeal judges sentenced Hezbollah members Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi to life imprisonment for their roles in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"Following the pronouncement of the Judgment, Le Fraper du Hellen wishes to thank Defense Counsel and their teams for the considerable amount of work that they have done since being assigned to ensure the effective representation of the interests and rights of Merhi and Oneissi," she said in a statement.

The life imprisonment verdicts issued Thursday by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are the “clearest condemnation of Hizbullah” in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, al-Mustaqbal Movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri said.

“After the conviction of Salim Ayyash in the crime of the assassination of martyr premier Rafik Hariri and his companions, the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon unanimously sentenced two other Hezbollah members, Hassan Merhi and Hussein Oneissi, to life imprisonment,” Hariri tweeted.

The Constitutional Council’s deadline for accepting appeals against the results of the parliamentary elections ended on Thursday, after 15 appeals were filed in total, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The appeals were filed between May 31 and June 16, NNA said.

The so-called Change MPs will meet President Michel Aoun separately during the binding parliamentary consultations next Thursday, al-Akhbar newspaper reported.

In remarks published Thursday, the daily said that the meetings are separate because the MPs haven't yet agreed on one name according to some sources, while other sources said that the Parliament's General Secretariat has sent the names separately without asking the MPs.

U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon Najat Rochdi has delivered a speech at a press conference held Thursday at the U.N. House (Beirut) on the Extension and Revision of the Emergency Response Plan (ERP).

Below are Rochdi’s remarks as delivered at the conference:

The Free Patriotic Movement is intensifying its calls as it tries to find a PM candidate who fits President Michel Aoun's conditions, and who, at the same time, can gain enough support from the MPs in order to compete with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, media reports said.

Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Thursday that Aoun is imposing certain conditions on the PM-designate. It said it had learned from sources that Aoun is demanding that the next PM dismiss the Central Bank governor, include the administrative appointments on the new Cabinet agenda and recover the money transferred after the October 17 uprising by approving a forensic audit.

Conflicting reports have emerged on whether Lebanon and Israel will manage to quickly reach a sea border demarcation deal in the wake of U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein’s visit to Lebanon earlier this week.