Kingdom Holding said Monday it has offered to buy the Saudi operations of Zain, opening a way for the UAE's Etisalat to acquire a majority stake in the Kuwaiti-based mobile telecoms operator.

The Saudi investment group said it has sent the board of directors of Mobile Telecommunications Company K.S.C (Zain) a "non-binding offer and a preliminary expression of interest" to acquire the Saudi side of Zain's business.

Prime Minister Designate Najib Miqati and the March 8 forces are making strong efforts to distribute portfolios among the alliance’s members excluding the March 14 forces, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The newspaper said that former Minister Naji Boustani would most likely have a portfolio from President Michel Suleiman’s share in the government. Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is also seeking to bring back Jebran Bassil and Charbel Nahhas to the cabinet, it said.

Saudi Arabian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri stated on Friday that the Kingdom’s travel warning for its citizens against heading to Lebanon was related to events at the time, but now that matters have calmed down, it is no longer necessary.

The ambassador made his statements after holding talks with Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati.

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.

Two prominent Saudi writers criticized outgoing Lebanese premier Saad Hariri in editorials published on Wednesday, saying his supporters used sectarian language and acted like Hizbullah with violent protests.

In an editorial in Saudi-owned al-Hayat entitled "The Lebanese Opposition Cloned,” Daud al-Shiryan wrote that Hariri's bloc, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, had "used the same methods" on Tuesday as his opponents in Hizbullah and allied parties.

Oil prices hovered near $86 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, consolidating losses after falling more than 4 percent in less than a week on mixed economic news and the possibility of increased OPEC production.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 26 cents at $86.45 a barrel at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.68 to settle at $86.19 on Tuesday.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry advised its citizens not to travel to Lebanon at this stage as Ambassador Ali Awad Assiri denied to pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the embassy had asked Saudis to leave the country as soon as possible.

“Given the situation in Lebanon, the Foreign Ministry advises Saudi citizens not to travel to Lebanon at this stage and until calm and stability” are restored, said a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.

A meeting that was scheduled to be held on Sunday between France, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar over the political crisis in Lebanon was postponed over conflicting agendas, French foreign ministry sources told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

In remarks published Monday, the sources said the Paris meeting is considered “postponed and not cancelled.”

A meeting between the French, Saudi Arabia, Turkish, and Qatari foreign ministers is expected to be held in Paris on Sunday in order to reach a solution to the Lebanese political crisis, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to also join these talks, in a sign of France’s determination to continue efforts that would ensure Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty.

The Saudi embassy has reportedly sent text messages to its citizens, urging them to take precautionary measures over the deteriorating political situation in Lebanon.

An embassy source told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Saturday that “given the situation …. the embassy asked its citizens to remain in contact with it to know what measures to take.”