Both the seat of the Maronite church and the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, aka Al-Ahbash, denied on Friday reports about a bomb threat against a Catholic school in Lebanon.

Bkirki's secretariat said in a statement that reports about the threat were not true.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati on Friday wrapped up two days of consultations with the various parliamentary blocs as part of efforts to form a new Lebanon government.

Miqati said there are two opposing views – one that is requesting commitments and one is seeking the opposite.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati has reportedly denied he had promised outgoing PM Saad Hariri that he will give him written answers to his demands before taking a decision on whether or not he would take part in the new Cabinet.

Hariri and his Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Thursday demanded that Miqati clarify his position on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) before Hariri would make a decision to join or not to join the new government.

Qatar and France agreed to cancel a meeting of the so-called "contact group" on Lebanon, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani announced.

His statement came following talks in Paris late Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Speaker Nabih Berri said he told PM-designate Najib Miqati that the March 8 forces would facilitate the government formation process that should not take more than a week or two if former Premier Saad Hariri’s camp wants to take part in the new cabinet.

In remarks to An Nahar and As Safir newspapers published Friday, Berri said the government should be formed “as soon as possible” to give the green light to projects that would help the Lebanese overcome their crises.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stressed that U.N. Security Council members have expressed their keenness on seeing a Lebanese commitment to international resolutions following the formation of a new government led by Caretaker PM Najib Miqati.

Feltman told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Friday that his talks with French officials in Paris touched on the developments in Lebanon. Security Council members have expressed to him their keenness on Lebanon’s commitment to resolutions 1701 and 1757, he said.

Israel's minister of strategic affairs said Thursday the Lebanese Hizbullah guerrilla group has infiltrated agents into the Gaza Strip to train Palestinian militants.

Gaza is ruled by the Hamas militant group, which, like Hezbollah, is sworn to Israel's destruction.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Thursday held phone talks with Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani on the political crisis in Lebanon, Turkey's foreign ministry announced in a statement.

The two men "exchanged points of view regarding the crisis in Lebanon and efforts made to form a new government."

Outgoing PM Saad Hariri and his Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Thursday demanded that PM-designate Najib Miqati clarify his position on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) before deciding on whether or not to join the new government.

MP Fouad Saniora, speaking on behalf of Al-Mustaqbal bloc, said Miqati was asked during consultations with Hariri to say clearly whether his government would cease all cooperation with the STL.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly held talks Thursday evening with outgoing premier Saad Hariri at his residence in downtown Beirut, the U.S. Embassy announced in a statement.

Connelly and Hariri discussed the ongoing parliamentary consultations and the position of the Mustaqbal bloc, said the statement.