British Ambassador to Lebanon Hugo Shorter held talks Monday with Foreign Minister and Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil.

“I was pleased to meet Foreign Minister Bassil and to discuss upcoming international conferences for Lebanon’s security and prosperity,” Shorter said after the meeting.

Assurances that Lebanon is going to stage timely parliamentary elections is marred by rumors that it could be postponed for “circumstances beyond the State's will, or for technical reasons having to do with reforms,” while Speaker Nabih Berri stresses timely polls, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Monday.

Preparations at the political, administrative and field levels are underway to stage the May 6 polls, but a senior political source who spoke on condition of anonymity said “two reasons could delay the elections.”

Free Patriotic Movement chief and Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil on Sunday warned of "foreign attempts" to meddle in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday urged “honest dialogue” among bickering politicians in Lebanon, amid an ongoing spat between President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri.

State Minister for Planning Affairs Michel Pharaon said Saturday there is “near unanimity (among political parties) that there is no alternative to the parliamentary elections and no alternative to the new electoral law.”

The Internal Security Forces arrested 21-year old Syrian national who hacked into several social media accounts and threatened their users of sharing their photos, the ISF said in a statement on Saturday.

After the U.S. Justice Department announced that it is forming a team of prosecutors to investigate alleged drug trafficking and money laundering linked to Hizbullah, reports said the team is “expected to arrive in Beirut soon”, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.

The unit will comprise specialists on money-laundering, drug trafficking, terrorism and organized crime, targeting Iran ally Hizbullah's sprawling network, whose reach extends across Africa and into Central and South America, the U.S. department said.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement is committed to the political settlement under which Prime Minister Saad Hariri rescinded his November resignation, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Friday.

“We are committed to the settlement and proud and convinced of it. I know that these words may dismay some people, but I always look at the blazes that are engulfing the region around Lebanon,” Mashnouq said.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement on Friday voiced “regret” over MP Walid Jumblat's latest remarks on Saudi Arabia, calling on him to “correct his stance.”

“Al-Mustaqbal Movement regrets the style and content of Mr. Walid Jumblat's rhetoric towards the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during his interview two days ago on Future TV,” the movement said in a statement.

Minister of Environment Tarek al-Khatib said on Friday that administrative decentralization will be adopted while implementing the solid waste plan agreed during the Cabinet meeting on Thursday.

“Administrative decentralization will be adopted and local administrations will be responsible for the treatment of waste,” said Khatib at a press conference.