Speaker Nabih Berri has said that both Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement agreed not to have preconditions on their expected dialogue on the crises gripping the country.

“This issue has been settled and is now behind us,” local dailies published on Monday quoted Berri as saying.

Hizbullah has refrained from commenting on the recent Saudi Arabian remarks about listing the party as a terrorist group in anticipation of an upcoming meeting between Speaker Nabih Berri and Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It said that the speaker and ambassador are scheduled to meet on Tuesday.

Prominent political figures are expected to head in the upcoming hours to Saudi Arabia to discuss with al-Msutaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri the latest local and regional developments.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Saturday, the talks come in light of the presidential standstill and the efforts exerted to open communication channels between al-Mustaqbal and Hizbullah,

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri said on Friday that it was “disgraceful” for Lebanon's Independence Day to be celebrated amid a vacuum at the Baabda Palace, calling for the election of a head of state whose priority lies in fighting strife.

“It is disgraceful for Independence Day to come in the absence of a president, who is given by the constitution the honor of oath to preserve the independence and the territorial integrity of the nation,” said Hariri in a statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri is still exerting efforts to launch dialogue between al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah, amid “good intentions” from the two parties and support from centrist leader MP Walid Jumblat.

Berri will maintain “his coordination with MP Walid Jumblat for launching dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement, because that would reflect positively on the general situations,” MPs quoted the speaker as saying after the weekly Wednesday meeting in Ain al-Tineh.

Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat have said they are exerting efforts to launch dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement.

Local dailies published on Monday quoted Berri as saying that he and Jumblat were seeking to open channels of dialogue between the rival parties.

MP Marwan Hamadeh is scheduled on Monday to make his political testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

His testimony will pave the way to tackling the political motivations linked to the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, added the daily.

The United States has reportedly questioned Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's decision to “diversify” the number of countries from which to obtain weapons as part of the Saudi military grant to the army, said As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

Widely informed sources told daily that the U.S. filed an official complaint to the Lebanese government, the army command in particular, for attempting to strike a deal with Russia on supplying the army with used T-72 tanks.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea described his ties with al-Mustaqbal movement of ex-Premier Saad Hariri as “eternal,” stressing their alliance was essential in preserving Lebanon.

“Our relations are eternal. They go beyond that. We consider the alliance between the LF and al-Mustaqbal essential in keeping the unity of the Lebanese entity,” said Geagea in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Monday.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun said the extension of parliament’s mandate until June 2017 was aimed at preventing a change in the legislature's majority and revealed that dialogue with al-Mustaqbal movement on the presidential deadlock has stopped.

“The real reason behind the extension is to stop the current (parliamentary) majority from changing and consequently to control the presidential elections,” Aoun told As Safir newspaper in an interview published on Monday.