Interior Minister Marwan Charbel hoped that Prime Minister Najib Miqati's recent visit to Turkey would yield positive results in the case of the nine Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria, reported the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah daily Sunday.

He told the daily: “Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has joined the ongoing contacts to facilitate their release.”

Sheikh Jawaan bin Hamad al-Thani, the son of Qatar's Emir, will be the first to own the priciest car in the world, the new Lebanese-designed Lykan Hypersport that was unveiled at the third Qatar International Motor Show.

Sheikh Jawaan chose black as the color for his new $3.5 million acquisition, that cultivated the title of the most expensive new car in the world, formally held by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sports.

A Lebanese-made supercar, the LykanHypersport, will be unveiled at the Qatar motor show this year and will become the most expensive motor in the world to be sold at £2.2 million, reports said.

The car becomes the world's most expensive above the Bugatti Veyron, which costs a mere £1.5 million.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh repeated his support for the Orthodox Gathering electoral draft law, while voicing his wonder at President Michel Suleiman's rejection of it, reported al-Akhbar newspaper on Saturday.

He told the newspaper that Suleiman's rejection of the law is unjustified, noting: “He only opposed at France and Qatar's behest.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel shied away from confirming a report that Syrian rebels would set free nine Lebanese pilgrims held since May in return for the release of 1,000 Syrian opposition detainees.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim took with him to Qatar a file detailing the negotiations carried out by the Lebanese authorities since 11 men were kidnapped on May 22 on their way back from a pilgrimage to Iran.

An Islamic group headed by influential cleric Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi on Thursday criticized France's "haste" in launching an offensive against Islamists in Mali, warning of "dangerous consequences."

"Military intervention has dangerous consequences, whether in killing, destruction, displacement... and famine, which Mali is already suffering from," the Qatar-based International Union of Muslim Scholars said in a statement.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim completed on Thursday a visit to Qatar where they held talks on the case of nine abducted Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria.

Charbel announced at the end of the talks that Qatar appointed a security official to follow up on the issue with Ibrahim's supervision.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and General Security chief Brig. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim held “positive” talks with senior Qatari officials over the case of abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aleppo province, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.

The two officials tackled with Qatari officials the efforts that their country can exert to free the nine remaining men.

The Senior Adviser to the Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Arshad Hurmuzlu, stressed on Monday that the case of the kidnapped Lebanese pilgrims in Syria is a local affair, pointing out that efforts are ongoing to free the men.

“It is wrong to deal with the case on the basis that it's a Lebanese-Turkish affair,” Hurmuzlu told An Nahar newspaper.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel revealed that he will head to Doha on Tuesday to discuss with his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalid al-Thani, the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz.

“I will discus with the Qatari interior minister the case of the remaining nine abductees and the role that his country can play to release the men,” Charbel said in comments to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) on Saturday.