France's far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has refused to go into a meeting with Lebanon's grand mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Deryan after his aides asked her to wear a headscarf.

Le Pen was scheduled to meet with Mufti Deryan as part of her three-day visit to Lebanon this week where she met senior officials.

Efforts of various political parties have failed so far to agree on a new electoral law that will govern the upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled in May, which has raised fears of vacuum at the parliament.

Speaker Nabih Berri sounded the alarm on Tuesday and stressed: “The country must not be driven towards vacuum, it is unacceptable, vacuum implies that the country is no more. The constitution has stipulated that Lebanon is a democratic republic with a parliamentary system. When the parliament falls and enters into vacuum, what will be left of the republic?”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri received on Monday France's far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, accompanied by MP Gilbert Collard, her chief of staff Nicolas Lesage in the presence of Hariri's chief of staff, Nader Hariri.

During the meeting, Hariri cautioned against associating his religion with the terrorist attacks of the jihadists who have repeatedly targeted France.

MP Fadi Karam accused Hizbullah on Monday of hampering attempts to agree on an electoral law for the upcoming parliamentary polls for what he described as “regional” reasons.

“Hizbullah is obstructing endeavors to agree on a new electoral law for regional considerations,” Karam told VDL (93.3) radio station.

Russia is likely to give Lebanon a helping hand in finding a new parliamentary electoral law format acceptable by all political parties, to save the country from “sliding into a political crisis,” al-Akhbar daily reported on Monday.

“Moscow will possibility make a move to help (Lebanon) find a format for a new electoral law acceptable by all forces, to avoid potentials of a political crisis that could open the door on an exposed security situation in Lebanon,” sources told the daily on condition of anonymity.

France's far-right leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen on Monday met for the first time with a foreign head of state, holding talks in Beirut with Lebanon's President Michel Aoun.

Lebanese Forces Information Minister Melhem Riachi emphasized on Saturday that contacts with Hizbullah are merely limited to the party's ministers and lawmakers, the state-run National News Agency reported.

“We do not negotiate with Hizbullah. There are some contacts limited to Hizbullah ministers and deputies,” said Riachi during a visit to the eastern city of Zahle where LF MP Toni Abi Khater received him at his residence in the presence of a number of LF lawmakers.

Economy Minister Raed Khoury stressed the need to separate the longtime wage scale file from the state's annual budget over concerns that it would remain pending if the cabinet discussions stuttered.

“The wage scale must be separated from the annual budget over fears that discussions would remain pending in the cabinet,” Khoury told VDL (93.3).

Two Syrian nationals were robbed at gunpoint on an inland road in Akkar north of Lebanon, the State-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

A group of unidentified gunmen, riding a brown Mercedes, robbed Adnan al-Sadbbashi and Mohammed Moustafa on a village road in Akkar at around 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, said NNA.

Hizbullah's media office issued a statement on Saturday stressing that the party does not make statements to the press under the so-called “Hizbullah sources” and has therefore denied reports published by Reuters in that regard.

“Hizbullah's media office reminds that the familiar media policy we follow never uses the so-called 'Hizbullah sources' in our statements, and we do not use 'sources close to Hizbullah,'” the party's media office said in a statement.