The World Bank's Lebanon Economic Monitor presented in its spring issue findings from recent World Bank work on Lebanon.

It examined the continuous decline in the Lebanese economy amidst what it called "a normalization of the state of the crisis."

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri met Wednesday in Ain el-Tineh over the upcoming Arab League Summit in Jeddah.

"We discussed the points that I will raise at the Summit," Mikati said. "The meeting, like usual, was positive," he added.

"There is no agreement yet with the Lebanese Forces," a Free Patriotic Movement MP said.

MP Jimmy Jabbour explained that there is an ongoing dialogue with the LF and that the current situation requires an agreement on a presidential candidate.

Kataeb Party chief Sami Gemayel has denied that he is mediating between Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil in the presidential file.

“I’m also not promoting (the candidacy) of Jihad Azour and I have not visited Bassil nor talked to him, but the communication channels between us are open,” Gemayel said in remarks to MTV.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati is willing to lead a ministerial delegation to Syria, Caretaker Minister of the Displaced Issam Sharafeddine said.

Sharafeddine said that Mikati has informed the ministers about his willingness to visit Syria during a consultative ministerial meeting and that the date of the visit will be decided on Monday.

The Lebanese Forces urged Tuesday Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to call for an open-ended election session, instead of obstructing the election of a president.

In a statement, the LF told Berri that, as a speaker, he doesn't have the right to interfere in what the opposition is doing.

An Arab league summit in Saudi Arabia will discuss Friday the Lebanese crisis, media reports said.

"The Lebanese file will be one of the main items on the summit's agenda," a diplomatic source told al-Joumhouria, in remarks published Tuesday.

Lebanese international lawyer Chibli Mallat is the best presidential candidate to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, who says he refuses to endorse a "confrontational" candidate.

"To some Lebanese leaders, the principle of settlement does not exist," Jubmlat said in a televised interview, as he criticized Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic leader Jebran Bassil for "vetoing" certain presidential candidates.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh has decided not to attend the May 16 interrogation session in Paris and is instead planning to retire in Sharjah, UAE, media reports have said.

Salameh fears that he might be detained or banned from traveling if he goes to France, the reports said. Instead, the governor and his legal team will argue that he has not been officially notified of the French interrogation request.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has decided not to reveal the developments of the talks with the Free Patriotic Movement over a presidential candidate.

"Every party has the right to keep its cards hidden," Geagea told MTV, urging Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to call for an election session this week. "We are totally ready for it," he said.