Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that any possible agreement between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement would take into consideration the interest of the nation.

“The statement that we issued after the first round of talks (between the two parties) was very clear and very accurate,” local dailies on Monday quoted Berri as telling his visitors.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is reportedly meeting in person with the media officer at the Lebanese Forces, Melhem Riachi, media reports said on Thursday.

According to Ad Diyar newspaper, Aoun began meeting with Riachi over the past few days.

The Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement announced Wednesday that they have decided to drop lawsuits filed against journalists and media outlets affiliated with the two political groups.

“The legal department has started efforts to drop all lawsuits filed against the FPM's journalists and media outlets over libel and slander against the LF and its chief,” the LF's media department announced in a statement.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh stressed Wednesday that his March 8 coalition will not accept the election of a so-called “centrist” president, hoping Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun will manage to win the presidential seat.

“Aoun briefed me on the talks he is conducting … We hope the next president will be an essential partner with everyone and of course we hope the General will reach” the Baabda Palace, Franjieh said after meeting Aoun in Rabieh.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said Wednesday the expected dialogue with his rival Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is “serious.”

“Dialogue with FPM chief MP Michel Aoun is serious and not just limited to the presidency. It goes beyond that,” Geagea told a delegation of LF engineers who visited him in Maarab.

Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel welcomed the expected talks between Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun and Samir Geagea, the head of the Lebanese Forces.

“We encourage dialogue between all (party) leaderships to salvage the Republic,” Gemayel told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in remarks published on Monday.

The long-awaited meeting between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea is expected to kick off at the beginning of the new year as the communication channels are open to reach common grounds on the agenda of the talks.

According to An Nahar newspaper the dialogue between the two Christian leaders will tackle all points of contention, in particular the ongoing presidential vacuum.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri hailed on Saturday former Minister Mohammed Shatah on the first anniversary of his assassination as a figure of moderation and dialogue.

Geagea said during a press conference on the occasion: “We miss your wisdom, nationalism, and moderation during a time when we are most in need of them.”

The French foreign ministry's director for North Africa and the Middle East affairs is expected to travel to Riyadh, Tehran and the Vatican in an attempt to resolve the Lebanese presidential deadlock, pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said Jean-François Girault will travel to Saudi Arabia on January 5. He is then scheduled to make a trip to Iran and later head to the Vatican for talks with top officials on Lebanon's presidential crisis.

Al-Mustaqbal movement and Hizbullah held their first, long-awaited meeting in Ain al-Tineh on Tuesday evening under the auspices of Speaker Nabih Berri, in an attempt to devise a “roadmap” and a “mechanism” for the coming dialogue sessions between the two parties.