Speaker Nabih Berri has said that he backed a proposal made by Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat to give Lebanon's presidential elections a wider patriotic aspect rather than limiting its discussion to Christians.

But in remarks published in several local newspapers on Monday, Berri stressed that no solution was looming in the horizon on the presidential deadlock.

Outlaws in the eastern Bekaa Valley have reportedly fled the area to evade a much-anticipated security plan expected to be implemented soon, media reports said on Sunday.

Sources said in comments published in the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper that dangerous fugitives left their homes in the eastern Bekaa and headed to the Syrian town of Qusayr and other neighboring towns.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has backed down from his decision to resign as a lawmaker at the request of Speaker Nabih Berri, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

A parliamentary source revealed that Berri had asked Jumblat to postpone his resignation to May in order to allow the government to take the necessary arrangements to hold by-elections.

A campaign to remove party banners and photos from Beirut and several cities was launched on Thursday, the result of talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal Movement.

The governor of Beirut, Ziad Shebib, told reporters that 90 percent of political slogans and posters have already been removed.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is putting a foundation for future plans, stressing that the two parties hold onto U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

The dialogue, which is being held under his sponsorship in Ain el-Tineh, is based on “honesty,” Berri told al-Mustaqbal newspaper in an interview published on Thursday.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stressed that the road to the dialogue between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal is “safe” despite concerns following Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's latest speech.

Berri told his visitors on Tuesday that the dialogue has not stopped and will go ahead in implementing the decisions reached between the two parties.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed that the criticism of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech would not have repercussions on the fifth round of talks between Hizbullah and al-Mustaqbal despite contrary claims by Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq.

Local dailies quoted Berri as saying that “negative remarks against Nasrallah's speech won't impact the dialogue,” whose fifth round is set to take place in Ain el-Tineh on Tuesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Saturday that Israel shattered the rules of engagement after its attack on Hizbullah's convoy in Syria's Quneitra, pointing out that the party's retaliation didn't violate the U.N. Security Council resolution 1701.

“It was a clean and fully examined operation that occurred on an occupied Lebanese land,” Berri's visitors quoted him as saying in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat were quick to react on Wednesday to Hizbullah's attack against an Israeli military vehicle in the Shebaa Farms, warning that Lebanon is headed towards a “turbulent” period.

The Foreign Ministry meanwhile condemned Israel's shelling of Lebanese territory.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Wednesday a parliamentary session to elect a new president to February 18 over lack of quorum.

The 18th session was adjourned over ongoing disagreements between the rival parties on the character of the presidential candidate.