Speaker Nabih Berri has suspended efforts he was exerting with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to resolve the presidential deadlock after the March 14 alliance announced a new initiative.

Berri told several officials who visited him on Tuesday that he and Jumblat were severely criticized when the PSP chief said he was in contact with the speaker and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to convince the rival parties to swiftly elect a new president.

The March 14 alliance on Tuesday kept its support for Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea but said it was ready to agree on another consensual candidate for the presidential elections.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora announced the initiative along with LF lawmaker George Adwan during a press conference they held at the parliament.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could include Lebanon in his tour to the region to discuss with Lebanese officials the situation in the country, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The daily said, however, that the issue hasn't been settled yet.

Speaker Nabih Berri has asked the members of his parliamentary bloc to submit their candidacies for the elections as a move aimed at sending a clear message of his rejection to extend the legislature's mandate.

Al-Joumhouria newspaper said that Berri telephoned all members of his Development and Liberation bloc to urge them to announce their candidacies starting Friday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam has rejected calls for taking up arms against militants, saying only the arsenal of the Lebanese army and Internal Security forces is legitimate.

In remarks to several local newspapers published on Thursday, Salam said: “There are no weapons except for the legitimate arms of the Lebanese army and all the security agencies.”

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat has held telephone conversations with Christian leaders ahead of his private visit abroad, An Nahar newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Jumblat inquired on Tuesday the unidentified officials on the possibility of reaching a breakthrough in the presidential crisis following his return to Beirut, it said.

Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea revealed on Wednesday that he will propose again his solution to the presidential deadlock, stressing that the stalemate should end swiftly.

Geagea said in remarks published in An Nahar newspaper that he will seek with his March 14 allies to suggest anew his solution to end the presidential stalemate.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri has reportedly informed Speaker Nabih Berri that he backed a “logical settlement” on the presidential deadlock by agreeing on personalities, who are currently not candidates.

Al-Akhbar daily said that Hariri's proposal on the settlement, includes the withdrawal of the candidacies of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and his rival Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to “agree on a personality who is capable of protecting the political understanding.”

Speaker Nabih Berri has stayed mum on efforts he is exerting along with Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat to resolve the presidential deadlock.

Local newspapers quoted Berri as saying on Monday that he “cannot talk about any possible progress to guarantee the success of the work we are doing.”

Speaker Nabih Berri praised a cabinet decision calling on the electorate to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for November, as Prime Minister Tammam Salam said his government's move was aimed at sending a message that it was ready to hold the polls.

The cabinet “decree is a first step towards holding the parliamentary elections,” Berri was quoted as saying by several local newspapers that were published on Wednesday.