Speaker Nabih Berri received on Thursday an official invitation to travel to Saudi Arabia.

He received the invitation after holding talks at his Ain el-Tineh residence with Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asiri.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday the need to end the presidential deadlock in Lebanon.

He said: “The best scenario to resolve the crisis lies in an agreement between Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh.”

Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed the recent criticisms that the Muslim powers in Lebanon hold sway over naming presidential candidates in the country in the wake of an initiative launched by Mustaqbal Movement chief MP Saad Hariri to nominate Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh as president, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Monday.

The speaker's visitors told the daily that “Berri considers such claims as a sectarian lie.”

Speaker Nabih Berri hailed on Wednesday the release of the servicemen who were held hostage by the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front, but lamented the “scandal” that accompanied their release in the northeastern border region of Arsal.

He said: “The footage of the gunmen on the outskirts of Arsal is a scandal against Lebanon's sovereignty.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam condemned on Saturday the Paris terrorist attacks, deeming it an attack against “higher human values.”

He said in a statement: “We watched with great sorrow the horrific developments in Paris that targeted innocent civilians in a barbaric and unjustified manner.”

Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah received telephone calls from Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal and his deputy Ismail Hanieh to condemn the terror attacks in Beirut's southern suburbs of Bourj al-Barajneh, adding that the Palestinians who were allegedly involved in the blast were not refugees in Lebanon, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was executed by two Palestinians and a Syrian.

Change and Reform bloc chief MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Wednesday that their parliamentary blocs will take part in a much-anticipated legislative session scheduled for Thursday and Friday after a political "settlement" was reached over the controversial issues.

“Today is a happy day. All disputes over the agenda of tomorrow's parliamentary session have been resolved and a comprehensive agreement has been reached over them – the nationality law, the municipalities law, the electoral law and other minor issues,” Aoun declared at a press conference.

The Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement had proposed to Speaker Nabih Berri placing the parliamentary electoral draft-law as the last article of the upcoming legislative session agenda, but the speaker had rejected it, revealed al-Mustaqbal daily on Wednesday.

Berri explained that including the article would lead to the “suspension of the entire legislative process” due to the disputes that would arise.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea rejected on Monday the criticism directed against the party regarding its position on the upcoming legislative session, wondering how financial draft-laws are priority over the parliamentary electoral draft-law.

He said during a press conference: “The financial draft-laws will be approved in due time.”

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed the legality of the upcoming legislative session, despite the possibility that the Christian parties of the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement may boycott it, reported As Safir newspaper on Monday.

He told the daily: “Given the choice between eating a dish that would make me sick and another that would kill me, I would choose the former.”