Politically paralyzed by deep divisions exacerbated by the war in neighboring Syria, Lebanon is likely to see a continuing cycle of political violence, analysts say.

On Thursday, four people were killed and dozens others wounded in a bomb blast in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik, a stronghold of Hizbullah, less than a week after the assassination of former finance minister Mohammed Shatah, a member of the March 14 coalition.

An al-Qaida-linked Saudi suspect detained in Lebanon is being held in a military hospital because "he is in poor health", a medical official told Agence France Presse Friday.

Another official familiar with the investigation said the interrogation of Majed al-Majed "has been delayed because he is in poor health," and that the suspect is being "heavily guarded" at the Baabda military hospital near Beirut.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri denounced in a statement the deadly blast that targeted Haret Hreik neighborhood in Beirut's southern suburbs, considering it a “criminal act.”

“Terrorism doesn't distinguish between anyone and the best way to confront it be by constructing a Lebanese national agreement,” Asiri said.

Saudi Arabia rejected a request by the Islamic Republic of Tehran to participate in the investigation with the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Saudi national Majed al-Majed, who is allegedly detained by the army intelligence.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday, the issue is set to inflict further deterioration in the Saudi-Iranian ties.

Iranian authorities demanded on Thursday to be informed about the probe with the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Saudi national Majed al-Majed, who is supposedly detained by the army intelligence.

"The (caretaker) Foreign Ministry received a memo from Iranian authorities in which they asked to stay informed about the investigation with al-Majed, considering that the explosion took place on an Iranian soil,” caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told LBCI television.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh demanded on Thursday trying the reportedly held “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, stressing that handing him over to another country is a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

"A country that respects its sovereignty and its laws does not give both of them up in response to another nation's request, especially if the detainee is a dangerous person that wanted to incite strife,” Franjieh said in a released statement, soon after reports said several regional countries asked for handing Majed al-Majed over.

Iraqi security forces on Thursday arrested a Shiite cleric who heads a pro-Iranian group which he claimed was responsible for firing mortar rounds into Saudi Arabia in November, police said.

Security forces arrested Wathiq al-Battat, the head of Jaish al-Mukhtar, on Palestine Street in Baghdad, the police colonel said.

A Saudi court has sentenced a man convicted of defaming a Kuwaiti singer by accusing her on Twitter of adultery to three months in jail and 80 lashes, a news website reported Thursday.

The Saudi national, apparently a fan of a rival pop star, was sentenced for "accusing (Kuwaiti singer) Shams of adultery without providing proof," the Saudi Sabq news website cited the verdict as saying.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri expressed relief on Thursday over the arrest of Majed al-Majed, the "emir" of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, the al-Qaida linked group that claimed a double suicide bombing at the Iranian embassy in November.

“If DNA tests prove that the person detained is al-Majed then we're extremely thrilled,” Asiri said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat newspaper.

Speaker Nabih Berri has said that the intention behind the formation of a new non partisan government is to exclude Hizbullah, a process that he rejected by warning that the lawmakers of his parliamentary bloc would not give their vote of confidence to it.

Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday quoted Berri as saying that his Amal movement would not “isolate” Hizbullah which has fought and resisted Israel.