Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stressed on Monday that the military is determined to prevent the war ongoing in the neighboring country Syria from engulfing Lebanon.

Qahwaji expressed optimism over the future, pointing out that his visit to the Italian capital Rome is to tackle the bilateral ties between the army of the two countries, in particular ahead of a conference set to be held in Italy to support the capabilities of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Saudi Arabia is in talks with Pakistan to provide anti-aircraft and anti-tank rockets to Syrian rebels to try to tip the balance in the war to overthrow President Bashar Assad, a Saudi source said Sunday.

The United States has long opposed arming the rebels with such weapons, fearing they might end up in the hands of extremists, but Syrian opposition figures say the failure of Geneva peace talks seems to have led Washington to soften its opposition.

A Saudi citizen convicted of murder was beheaded on Sunday, the interior ministry announced, bringing the number of executions in the kingdom this year to 10.

Salem al-Jahdali beat fellow tribesman Abdullah al-Jahdali to death following a dispute, the ministry said in a statement published by the official SPA news agency.

Saudi health authorities announced on Sunday the death of an elderly woman from the MERS coronavirus, bringing the death toll from the respiratory disease in the kingdom to 61.

The 81-year-old, who died from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in Riyadh, was suffering from several chronic illnesses, the health ministry website said.

Saudi Arabia is determined to invite a number of Lebanese political figures to visit it in order to “bolster the consensual atmosphere” produced by the formation of a new government, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

These figures include Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who may visit the kingdom soon, added the daily.

The Arab Summit that will be held in Kuwait on March 25 and 26 is expected to tackle the latest developments in Lebanon and will be preceded by a meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon that is set to be held in Paris in early March.

A diplomatic source said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the Arab Summit will address the situation in Lebanon and stress its keenness to safeguard the country's stability, security and reiterate its support to the state's dissociation policy.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is highly likely to reach the presidency after a U.S. and Saudi rapprochement with him, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

The daily said Washington believes that Lebanon needs a strong president, who is capable of discussing with Hizbullah about its arms or the defense strategy rather than provoking it.

Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji is scheduled to visit Italy in the coming days to consolidate military ties with the European country and discuss the preparations for the conference aimed at shoring up support for the Lebanese army.

Qahwaji will seek to brief Italian military officials on the needs of the Lebanese army, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

A Saudi detainee at the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay pleaded guilty Thursday to terror charges in connection with the 2002 suicide bombing of a French oil tanker off Yemen.

Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed Haza al-Darbi, 39, admitted to planning, aiding and supporting the attack on the MV Limburg, which killed a Bulgarian sailor, injured a dozen other men and caused a large oil spill in the Gulf of Aden.

A firefight in a mainly Shiite area of eastern Saudi Arabia killed four people -- two policemen and two people wanted over violence -- on Thursday, the interior ministry said.

The police came under fire when they attempted to arrest the two wanted activists in the flashpoint Awamiya district of the oil-rich Eastern Province, said a ministry statement carried by the official SPA news agency.