U.S. Ambassador David Hale, who assumed his mission in Beirut on Friday, informed Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati that there is an official decision to steer Lebanon clear of the repercussions of a possible military strike on Syria, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

The newspaper said that Hale told Miqati during a meeting they held at the Grand Serail that Washington has officially decided to distance Lebanon from the possible strike against Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack by the regime, which the U.S. administration said killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus.

President Michel Suleiman on Friday arrived in the southern French city of Nice, where he will take part in the opening of the 2013 Francophone Games and hold talks with French President Francois Hollande.

Suleiman was accompanied by First Lady Wafaa Suleiman, caretaker Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel and a Lebanese delegation, according to state-run National News Agency.

A rally was held on Friday near the United States' Embassy in Lebanon to protest a possible military strike against Syria for its regime's alleged chemical attack in August.

Prominent Marada Movement member Shadi Dahdah stressed that the military strike will lead to the “collapse” of American interests in the region.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati lamented on Friday the evacuation of non-essential staff U.S. Embassy staff and their family members, hoping that they would return to Lebanon.

He said: “The concerned security forces are taking the necessary measures to guarantee the safety of diplomatic missions and foreigners in Lebanon.”

The U.S. embassy in Beirut said Friday that its non-essential staff and family members are being evacuated from Lebanon because of "threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel."

"On September 6 2013, the Department of State drew down non-emergency personnel and family members from Embassy Beirut due to threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel," a statement on the embassy website said.

The Higher Defense Council lauded on Friday the role of security forces and the army in arresting criminals as it was briefed on measures put in place to defend diplomatic missions and confront a bigger refugee influx from Syria.

Top officials were “briefed by security and military officials on the arrest of criminals and called for doubling their efforts to do so,” Higher Defense Council Secretary-General Maj. Gen. Mohammed Kheir said following a meeting led by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said Friday that a naval torpedo destroyer was being deployed just off the Lebanese coast to protect the 1,100 Italian troops on U.N. peacekeeping duty in Lebanon.

Italian media reported a second warship, a frigate, was also being sent to Lebanon's coast, but the Defense Ministry denied plans to deploy it.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour described a meeting in Geneva on Syrian refugees as disappointing but expressed hope that another conference in New York would find solutions to Lebanon's woes.

In remarks to An Nahar newspaper published on Friday, Abou Faour said his “participation in the latest Geneva meeting was an opportunity to reiterate that Lebanon was carrying the biggest burden of refugees with the minimum assistance compared to other countries.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has ruled out a Hizbullah involvement in any possible U.S. strike on Syria, saying the party and its Iranian backers are “keen on the residents of the South.”

There are fears that if the U.S. strikes Syria, Hizbullah would launch attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Thursday held a series of contacts with the U.N. and world powers in a bid to stop attacks by Qaida-linked rebels on the ancient Syrian Christian village of Maaloula, his office said.

In this regard, Gemayel held phone talks with U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman, U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly and the ambassadors of the Vatican, France, Britain and the United States.