Saudi Arabia has reportedly rejected the nomination of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for the presidency, expressing fear over his “hidden intentions.”

Informed Lebanese sources told As Safir newspaper published on Tuesday that Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal informed local and foreign officials that he refuses to adopt the candidacy of Aoun.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reiterated readiness to withdraw his candidacy from the presidency in favor of another March 14 candidate, expressing belief that Thursday's parliamentary session will be similar to its predecessors.

“I am not holding onto anything personal at all,” Geagea said in an interview with the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Tuesday.

Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh on Monday ruled out that al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri might grant Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun the votes of his bloc in the presidential election, saying he is “not optimistic” in this regard.

“I'm not part of the team running Aoun's electoral campaign and if his contacts with Hariri produced positive results, that would be a good thing, but I'm not optimistic that Hariri might grant Aoun his votes,” Franjieh said in an interview on MTV.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam announced Monday that he will not discuss the presidential vote with Saudi officials during his visit to the kingdom, denying that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had asked him to propose the extension of President Michel Suleiman's term.

“Al-Rahi did not ask me to convey a proposal on extending Suleiman's term and my visit to Saudi Arabia is not for discussing the presidential election, which is for the Lebanese to conduct,” Salam told reporters onboard the plane that carried him to the Gulf state.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday said his Paris talks with former premier Saad Hariri tackled MP Michel Aoun's presidential nomination and the fact that the Free Patriotic Movement leader has proposed himself as a “consensual” candidate.

"I demonstrated with ex-PM Saad Hariri all the aspects of the political process related to the presidential vote and we discussed all the possible solutions to the crisis and raised all the possibilities," Geagea said during a press conference in the French capital, according to a statement distributed by the LF's media department.

The Change and Reform lawmakers will vote for the head of the bloc, Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun, in the fifth round of the presidential elections despite an expected final decision by al-Mustaqbal movement not to back his candidacy.

An Nahar newspaper said Monday that the MPs, who have boycotted the previous rounds of the polls, will head to parliament on Thursday and vote for Aoun to avoid the criticism of paralyzing the elections and causing a vacuum at Baabda Palace.

Lebanese Forces leader and presidential candidate Samir Geagea held talks Sunday with al-Mustaqbal movement chief MP Saad Hariri in the French capital Paris, amid a flurry of political talks over the stalled presidential vote.

“Ex-PM Hariri is currently meeting Geagea over a lunch banquet in Paris,” Hariri's mouthpiece Future TV announced in the afternoon.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri and Lebanese Forces leader and presidential candidate Samir Geagea held talks on Friday in the French capital Paris, reported the daily An Nahar on Saturday.

It said that Geagea is scheduled to also hold talks with various French officials on the latest Lebanese developments.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has said that the agreement on a consensual presidential candidate required an understanding between Iran and Saudi Arabia coupled with the cooperation of the rival parties with Hizbullah and its baker Tehran.

An official close to Jumblat told Addiyar daily that the PSP chief denied rumors that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun would be elected president if ex-PM Saad Hariri, who leads al-Mustaqbal movement, gave his consent.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam is scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday, in his first official visit abroad since the formation of his cabinet in February.

Salam is expected to meet with Saudi King Abdullah and several top Saudi officials.