Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat stressed to An Nahar daily on Saturday that the new cabinet should be formed soon “in order to fortify Lebanon on the security and economic levels”.

He noted that the region is passing through a difficult period “that has many positive outcomes and some negative ones”.

Head of Fatah’s press office Issam al-Halabi announced on Friday that the action as part of the Palestinians’ right to their homeland that were launched on the Nakba Day on Sunday will continue with a festival at Maroun al-Ras on Liberation Day on Wednesday.

He told the Central News Agency that preparations for the event are underway in cooperation with various Lebanese parties.

Lebanon should grant immediate asylum to Syrians fleeing violence in their country instead of detaining them, Human Rights Watch said Friday.

"Lebanon's security forces should stop detaining Syrian refugees who cross the border into Lebanon to escape violence and persecution in their country," the New York-based rights group said.

Some 1,400 Syrians, many of them women and children without belongings, crossed the border with Lebanon last week to join many more who have fled the unrest at home, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

"Most of the people who have crossed the border in recent weeks are women and children. In addition to their immediate need for food, shelter and medical help, they also need psycho-social support," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali assured on Friday that Syria is more fortified than ever after the recent unrest witnessed in the Arab country.

He said after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri: “Matters are improving and reforms are being implemented at a fast pace.”

Seven Estonian tourists kidnapped in Lebanon two months ago pleaded for help in a video released Friday, criticizing their government for abandoning them and saying they were in "great danger".

"We are very tired and in great danger. We ask our families and all who know us to help us," one of the seven men, Kalev Kaosaar, says in the video, a link to which was published by the Estonian foreign ministry.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held talks on Friday with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda palace on Bkirki’s efforts on the Christian and national levels.

The Patriarch also presented him with an icon of the late Pope John Paul II.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called on Friday for the formation of a technocratic government “seeing as it is the only solution for the governmental crisis because a political one cannot be established at the moment.”

He said during the opening of the ninth session of the discussions on the LF’s internal structure: “We were hoping that parliamentary sessions would be held given the deteriorating social and economic situation, but these sessions would be illegitimate under a caretaker government.”

Visiting deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Reza Shebani delivered a message of support from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman, reported al-Jumhuriya newspaper on Friday.

The message includes the Islamic Republic's position on regional issues, while asserting its ongoing support to Lebanon.

It’s official! Lebanon is still a priority for the U.S. although President Barack Obama did not address the situation in the country in his “historic” speech on Thursday.

“The democratic changes in the region started in Lebanon in 2005,” U.S. embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha said about the Cedar Revolution that drove Syrian troops out of Lebanon in the aftermath of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.