The Council of Maronite bishops welcomed on Friday the dialogue among the country's different factions, hoping that it would lead to the election of a new president, and urged the Lebanese to back the state at this critical stage.

The bishops hoped in a statement following their monthly meeting in Bkirki that “talks among the Lebanese political parties would be aimed at electing a head of state.”

Bkirki spokesman Walid Ghayad stressed on Friday that the Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi informed a French diplomat, who is following up the presidential deadlock, that the crisis is not only linked to the Christians.

Ghayad said that al-Rahi stressed during a recent meeting with Jean-François Girault, Director of the Department of the Middle East and North Africa at the French Foreign Ministry, that “the head of state is not for the Maronites and Christians alone.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun reiterated on Friday that a decision to extend the term of more than 20 officers in different posts “violates the adopted norms.”

“Some (politicians) are using a political rhetoric and intentions instead of referring to the law and the constitution,” Aoun said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri criticized certain parties for claiming that they back the implementation of the Constitution on the cabinet mechanism yet they don't act accordingly.

“Why does this stance does not match with the facts on the ground?” Berri wondered in remarks published in As Safir daily on Friday.

Former President Michel Suleiman has accused Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement of launching “campaigns” against him, reiterating that the Baabda Declaration is the solution to the country's crises.

“Where can Hizbullah employ its victory in Lebanon? The solution is to implement the Baabda Declaration, devise a defense strategy and equip the army,” Suleiman said in excerpts of an interview with al-Massira magazine, calling on Hizbullah to immediately withdraw its fighters from Syria, where they are fighting alongside the regime against an Islamist-led revolt.

The International Support Group for Lebanon is preparing for a new meeting in Beirut, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Thursday.

The report said that high-level contacts are currently underway to hold a meeting, which is expected to focus on the importance of ending the presidential stalemate as a key solution for various dangers and crises confronting Lebanon.

Officials close to Prime Minister Tammam Salam have downplayed the suspension of cabinet sessions amid reports that the government could meet next week despite the controversy on its working mechanism.

“Salam has never linked the cabinet session with the mechanism,” the officials told An Nahar daily published on Thursday.

Former President Michel Suleiman criticized on Wednesday Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun's demand that confidence be withdrawn from Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, saying that staging the presidential elections would resolve this issue.

He said after a meeting with Moqbel: “Respecting the constitution and immediately heading to parliament to elect a president are the fastest ways to withdraw confidence from a minister.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea expressed regret on Wednesday that the state is decaying over the failure to elect a new head of state and expressed optimism on reaching an agreement with his rivals in the Free Patriotic Movement.

“In the absence of a president, the state is eroding bit by bit,” said Geagea during a press conference he held at his residence in Maarab, the same day MPs failed again to elect a new president.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin praised dialogue among the Lebanese parties, considering it a necessity to combat the challenges and risks that the country is passing through.

“Foreign countries support the dialogue, in particular because it is touching on local and regional issues, in the first place the battle against terrorism and extremism,” Zasypkin said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper on Tuesday.