Arab League chief Ahmed Abul Gheit on Thursday expressed his “deep admiration” of the efforts that Lebanon has exerted to organize an Arab economic summit that kicks off Friday in Beirut, following controversy over the participation of some Arab countries in it.

Abul Gheit was speaking after talks with President Michel Aoun in Baabda.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim announced Thursday that he is no longer part of a presidential initiative aimed at resolving the government formation deadlock.

Ibrahim voiced his remarks after talks in Ain el-Tineh with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

A preparatory opening session for Beirut's Arab Economic and Social Development Summit will be held Thursday at the Phoenicia Hotel.

The public session will bring together Arab heads of states and senior representatives.

Marada Movement chief ex-MP Suleiman Franjieh reiterated Thursday his rejection of granting President Michel Aoun and the Free Patriotic Movement 11 ministers in the new government, or what constitutes a so-called one-third-plus-one veto power.

“Hizbullah is clinging to the representation of the Consultative Gathering in the government and will not back down,” Franjieh tweeted.

The Israeli army has asked the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to assist its probe in the case of the mysterious man who breached the border fence and crossed into Lebanon several days ago.

Lebanese TV networks had reported Tuesday that a man wearing an Israeli military uniform had entered “carrying a box” into the al-Raheb area in the Lebanese border town of Aita al-Shaab.

Three state leaders have so far said they are unable to attend the Beirut summit scheduled this weekend, a move blamed by some on “a U.S. decision not to secure balanced participation in the summit,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

In light of controversy over inviting Syria to Beirut’s economic summit, Lebanon’s foreign ministry, as part of “protocol rules,” has sent invitations to the accredited ambassadors including Syria to attend the opening of the summit this weekend, al-Akhbar daily reported on Thursday.

Dispatched by Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Anwar al-Khalil of the Development and Liberation bloc held talks Wednesday with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, a few hours after a landmark Maronite summit in Bkirki.

“Speaker Nabih Berri asked me to relay his appreciation to His Eminence Patriarch al-Rah for this comprehensive and complete national stance that pays attention to the critical situation that Lebanon is going through, and for those good words that he heard during the opening of Bkirki’s meeting today,” al-Khalil said after meeting al-Rahi in Bkirki.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday ridiculed the tour that U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale carried out in Lebanon a few days ago, as he stressed that the solution to the government formation deadlock is “domestic.”

“David Hale knows very well that he is not in a position that allows him to dictate things on Lebanon and its officials, and he who does not see the daily Israeli violations against Lebanon as an aggression… is not eligible to give advices about citizenship and Lebanon’s future,” Qassem said.

A suicide attack killed U.S. servicemen in northern Syria Wednesday, causing the United States to suffer its worst combat losses in the war-torn country since 2014 as it prepares to withdraw.