Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi will not invite Christian MPs to a meeting in Bkikri before confirming the “outcome and effectiveness” of such a move, sources informed on al-Rahi’s efforts said.

“He is inclined to first discuss the issue with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, to determine whether he and Hezbollah would positively receive any inter-Christian agreement,” the sources added, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper published Friday.

Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh on Friday defended himself anew in the face of a host of accusations.

“The lawsuits targeted against me are unfounded and I have submitted audited official documents,” Salameh said in an interview with Asharq TV.

The Delegation of the European Union to Lebanon together with the diplomatic missions of the EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland have announced that they are “gravely concerned” about the current situation in Lebanon.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil on Thursday stressed that the presidential election is “a national juncture and not only Christian or Maronite.”

A 4.2-magnitude earthquake hit five kilometers south of Lebanon's eastern Hermel region on Wednesday evening, Lebanon's National Center for Geophysics said.

A delegation from the Progressive Socialist Party-led Democratic Gathering bloc on Wednesday held talks with MP Michel Mouawad.

The Lebanese rescue and medical team has managed to pull out several people from the rubble in earthquake-stricken Turkey.

A Lebanese ministerial delegation led by caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib met Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to discuss earthquake relief efforts.

The delegation had earlier met with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad, expressing its "solidarity with the Syrian people in this plight" and noting that Lebanon "will offer its available capabilities to assist in the relief efforts," the National News Agency said.

Lebanese national Bassel Habkouk was pulled out Wednesday from the rubble of a destroyed hotel in the earthquake-hit Turkish city of Antakya amid ongoing efforts to rescue two more Lebanese citizens trapped under the debris.

Habkouk hails from the southern town of Maghdouche.

Several Lebanese nationals have been reported as missing in Turkey following the devastating earthquake there.

Lebanese Ambassador to Turkey Ghassan al-Muallem said the embassy is following up with Turkish authorities on the situation of five Lebanese who are “under the rubble.”