The Free Patriotic Movement of MP Michel Aoun was on Friday holding intense consultations to come up with a strategy to confront a decision by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel to extend the terms of top military officials.

Aoun's Change and Reform bloc is expected to announce its official stance following an extraordinary meeting in Rabieh on Saturday.

The young man cowered behind a barrel on the barely lit stage, as his companion pointed a fake weapon towards a roaring audience in a Beirut theater.

The amateur actors were re-enacting a familiar scene from their native Tripoli, one of Lebanon's most volatile cities.

Hizbullah's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc noted Thursday that “the current priority is for ending the presidential vacuum,” as it called on al-Mustaqbal movement to “facilitate the proposed solutions.”

“The current priority is for ending the presidential vacuum and we support any initiative aimed at reviving the parliament's legislative role,” said the bloc in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged on Thursday two suspects with the murder of army Major Rabih Kahil, various media outlets reported.

They said that Hisham and Elie Daou were charged in the case.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is scheduled to visit Beirut next week to brief Lebanese officials on the nuclear deal signed between major powers and Tehran.

Zarif will make the visit on August 12. He is expected to meet with top officials and political figures who are allied with Iran.

Syrian government forces backed by Hizbullah have advanced from different directions in the mountain resort of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, Syrian state media reported.

Syrian opposition groups have accused the government and Hizbullah of displacing thousands of Sunnis from areas along the border with Lebanon and preventing them from returning to their homes.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel has extended the terms of the Army commander, the chief of staff and the head of the Higher Defense Council, a move that is expected to draw the anger of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun.

Moqbel took the decision to make the one-year extension late Wednesday after the cabinet failed to resolve the controversial issue of the appointment of high-ranking military and security officials.

Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Tammam Salam and Deputy PM Defense Minister Samir Moqbel attend Thursday the inauguration of a major extension of the Suez Canal in Egypt.

The three officials are expected to return to Beirut the same day.

The United States has delivered more weapons to the Lebanese army as part of the program aimed at assisting the military to confront terrorist organizations, a high-ranking military official said.

The official, who was not identified, said that the delivery of the new batch of heavy weapons is a sign that “Washington has confidence in the capabilities of the military institution and its performance after its success in the battles and the operations it carried out lately.”

A sixteenth dialogue session between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal movement tackled “proposals to resolve the political crisis” and “a number of social issues,” the two parties said in a joint statement.

“The conferees discussed the suggested proposals for resolving the country's political crisis and a number of social issues that are of concern to citizens,” said a terse statement issued after talks in Ain al-Tineh on Wednesday evening.