The first three of 24 Rafale fighter jets Egypt bought from France in a multi-billion-euro deal flew in on Tuesday, leading a formation flight over the Nile and the pyramids.

Egypt took delivery of the aircraft Monday at an air base in southern France as part of the 5.2-billion-euro ($5.6 billion) deal.

French President Francois Hollande has tasked Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to discuss with Iranian authorities Lebanon's presidential deadlock, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Tuesday.

The newspaper said Hollande informed Fabius that he should discuss with Iranian officials later this month the importance of ending the presidential vacuum.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said French President Francois Hollande has informed him and his son that Paris will always back Lebanon.

“Never forget that France will always be by your side and the side of Lebanon,” Jumblat quoted Hollande as saying.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq kicked off on Monday a trip to France where he is scheduled to meet with a number of security and political officials, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

It said that he will begin his visit by holding talks with security officials to discuss coordination in a number of fields, especially combating terrorism.

Egypt on Monday took delivery of three Rafale fighter jets from France, the first of 24 warplanes sold in a 5.2 billion euro ($5.6 billion) deal earlier this year.

Egyptian authorities took charge of the planes at an air base in southern France, and they will be flown to Cairo by specially trained pilots on Tuesday.

Beach lovers on the French Riviera expressed their anger Sunday over the imminent arrival of the Saudi royal family, who have ordered a long stretch of beach to be closed off to the public.

"Looking after their security is fine, but they should at least let us go for a swim," said Mohamed, a disgruntled fishing enthusiast. 

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq is scheduled to travel on an official visit to France next week, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

He will head to France on Tuesday.

Two of Lebanon's top politicians, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, traveled on Saturday for high-level talks abroad.

Jumblat and his son Taymour traveled to Paris while Geagea headed to Saudi Arabia for talks with top Saudi officials.

A 17-year-old suspect in a foiled attack on a French military base was instructed by an Islamic State militant in Syria to "hit" France, a prosecutor said on Friday.

He and two other young men, aged 19 and 23, were charged and placed in detention on Friday after their plot to kidnap and behead a member of the French military on film was discovered by police.

One of the suspects in a foiled attack on a French military base was instructed by an Islamic State militant in Syria to "hit" France, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said on Friday.

The youngest of three suspects in custody -- aged only 17 -- was given the order when it became clear he would not be able to leave the country to wage jihad in Syria because he was under surveillance, Molins said.