Defected Colonel Abdullah Hussein al-Rifai, the so-called leader of the Free Syrian Army in Arsal and its outskirts, was shot dead Friday in the Lebanese border town.

State-run National News Agency said the shooting occurred in the town's square.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri slammed Friday what he called “incitement” against al-Mustaqbal movement, denying allegations by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah that there is an attempt to “isolate” and “defeat” MP Michel Aoun.

“They have fabricated the claim that there is a party seeking to isolate and defeat General Aoun. They made up the lie and believed it, turning it into a gateway to incite against Mustaqbal,” Hariri tweeted.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stressed Friday that no one will be able to “isolate” or “defeat” Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, his party's main Christian ally, describing him as a “mandatory pathway” in the presidential elections and in the government.

“We won't accept that any of our allies be defeated or isolated, especially those who stood by us in the July war … Since the one being targeted these days is General Aoun, I tell you that you won't be able to isolate General Aoun,” said Nasrallah in a televised address marking the end of the 2006 war.

Three fugitives from the Jaafar clan were arrested and a quantity of arms and ammunition was seized on Friday in the northern Bekaa region of Hermel, the army said.

“An army force raided a number of areas in the Hermel, al-Qasr and Wadi Fisan areas and arrested the fugitives Mahdi Karam Jaafar, Liwaa Karam Jaafar and Murad Karam Jaafar,” the Army Command said in a statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri expressed his disappointment with the political leaderships' handling of Lebanon's crisis, saying that it “harms the country more than foreign factors,” reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

His visitors on Thursday told the daily that the speaker emphasized that “there can be no solutions without dialogue.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat reportedly rejects raising the retirement age of senior security officers that was recently proposed by General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, said As Safir newspaper on Friday.

He told the daily: “Such a suggestion would incur major strains on the treasury.”

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said that Speaker Nabih Berri is the only national authority capable of handling the current phase in the country and of finding a solution to the crisis.

“The only national reference capable of wisely handling the governmental crisis is Speaker Nabih Berri. He is capable of finding a solution,” Mashnouq told An Nahar daily on Friday.

Three people were injured Thursday evening when a hand grenade was hurled at a cafe in the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Security forces immediately arrived on the scene and launched an investigation,” NNA said.

A lunch meeting on Thursday gathered Army chief General Jean Qahwaji and Commando Regiment commander Brig. Gen. Chamel Roukoz, several TV networks and newspapers reported.

The meeting took place at a restaurant in downtown Beirut, the reports said.

Activists from the You Stink anti-trash movement dumped a number of trash bags Thursday outside the residence of Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq in protest at authorities' failure to address the garbage crisis.

“In response to the government and Minister Mashnouq's policy of concealing the garbage and killing us with it instead of subjecting it to treatment … and because we have the right to defend ourselves against the deals of death, groups from the You Stink campaign have taken the trash to where it belongs – to Minister Mashnouq's house,” said a statement issued by the movement.