Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Friday voiced sorrow that Eid al-Adha comes this year while the Lebanese “are living in a state of grief,” rejecting “murder, violence and war.”

Al-Rahi, who is on a visit to Rome, extended Eid al-Adha greetings to Muslims in Lebanon and across the world.

President Michel Suleiman reiterated on Friday his call for Lebanese foes to attend the all-party talks, congratulating the Lebanese on the Eid al-Adha occasion.

“I hope this occasion would be a chance for the Lebanese to reach consensus among each other, and put forward Lebanon's interests,” Suleiman said.

Internal Security Forces released on Friday Syrian national Youssef al-Turkmani after a series of security raids in eastern Lebanon's Hermel region in the Bekaa, the National News Agency reported.

According to the news agency, the 44-year-old business man is on his way to his house in Jlala in Zahle.

Prosecutor General Judge Hatem Madi stressed on Friday that he cleared to the FBI investigation team “its limits,” setting its task to providing the Lebanese security agencies with the technical assistance only in the probe into the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan.

“The FBI team will not interfere in the investigations,” Madi said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Qabbani stressed on Friday that the “premiership in Lebanon should not be targeted with violence.”

He said: “We will not allow the government to be toppled through street action.”

Efforts to resolve the political crisis sparked by last week's assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan continue to evade the various political forces, As Safir daily reported Friday.

As Arab and international concerns mounted over securing civil peace in Lebanon and warding off any negative repercussions of the Syria crisis on Lebanon, it was clear that there is Arab-international consensus to protect Lebanon from the crisis, encourage Lebanese factions to resume dialogue, and preserve the role of state institutions, sources close to the presidential palace in Baabda told the daily.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Nouhad al-Mashnouq revealed that his latest talks with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri were aimed at agreeing on the March 14 camp's next line of action in the wake of the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan, reported An Nahar daily on Friday.

He told the daily that a new government should be comprised of “technocrats, whose political agenda should be based on the Baabda Declaration.”

High-ranking foreign diplomats agreed on Friday that stability in Lebanon is “crucial” for the Lebanese people and the international community as they reached consensus over the importance of the stepping down of Prime Minister Najib Miqati's cabinet and the formation of a neutral government.

“Miqati's government can't contribute to maintaining Lebanon's stability, it became part of the crisis, in particular, after the assassination of (Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam) al-Hasan last week,” U.S. Sources said in comments published in the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Thursday hit back at Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat, describing slain Intelligence Bureau chief Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan as “the martyr of Lebanon” and slamming the Druze leader for refusing to resign from government.

“Walid Jumblat is quoting me as saying that Wissam al-Hasan is the martyr of the Sunni sect. This is untrue and his ally (PM Najib) Miqati is the one who said that. Wissam al-Hasan is the martyr of Lebanon,” said Hariri on the social networking website Twitter during Jumblat's live interview on LBCI television.

A clash erupted on Thursday evening between security forces and protesters from the March 14 youth organizations at the site of the open-ended sit-in demanding the departure of the government at the Riad al-Solh Square in downtown Beirut.

Media reports said some protesters were severely beaten by army troops, army intelligence agents and Parliament Police.