Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani denied on Wednesday that his country banned granting visas to Lebanese Shiites over Hizbullah's stances from the revolt against Syrian president Bashar Assad.

“Our ties with Hizbullah are not bad, however, we have different points of view regarding the developments in Syria,” Sheikh Hamad said in remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily.

The eastern city of Zahle is set to hold on Thursday a general strike to protest the unknown fate of Fouad Daoud, who was kidnapped last week by unknown assailants.

A meeting held on Tuesday at the Bishopric of Our Lady of Deliverance in Zahle called for the general strike and for a sit-in near the city's Grand Serail.

Unknown assailants opened fire from their machineguns on a KFC restaurant in Nabatiyeh at dawn Wednesday, causing material damage, media reports said.

The drive-by shooting took place at 3:30 am, they said.

President Michel Suleiman is adamant to propose his vision on the country's defense strategy during a national dialogue session scheduled to be held at Baabda Palace on Thursday, Environment Minister Nazem al-Khoury, who is close to the head of state, said.

However, al-Khoury told al-Liwaa newspaper published on Wednesday that the discussion of the strategy depends on the presence of all members of the all-party talks.

A judicial authority will prevent on Wednesday security agencies from obtaining the telecom data after it extended the deadline until the end of Pope Benedict XVl's three-day visit to Lebanon.

Sources in the authority told As Safir newspaper that giving the complete telecom data to security forces to track crimes violates the constitution and it can't resume.

The joint parliamentary committees convened on Wednesday to tackle the government-approved electoral law.

Media reports said however that the session was later suspended over a lack of quorum when opposition MPs withdrew from the meeting.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati held on Wednesday a meeting with several ministers and security officials to tackle the conditions of the prisons across Lebanon after reports emerged that inmates are gearing up for a revolt to demand a general amnesty.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told reporters at the Grand Serail that the courtroom that is currently being built at Roumieh prison will be completely on October 15, which will facilitate kicking off trials of all the inmates at the facility.

The Syrian regime had considered supplying chemical weapons to Hizbullah as a war between the party and Israel will “only be good for Syria,” the former head of Syria's chemical arsenal told The Times newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

Major-General Adnan Sillu said he defected from the Syrian army three months ago after being party to top-levels talks about the use of chemical weapons on both rebel fighters and civilians.

The French Foreign Ministry stressed on Tuesday the importance of maintaining Lebanon and Syria's sovereignty and unity.

Spokesman Philippe Laleu said of claims that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards may be in Lebanon and Syria that Paris condemns all that can harm the sovereignty of either country.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday recent claims that members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were present in Lebanon, saying that they have revealed “the true nature of forces that have claimed to have national affiliations.”

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The so-called Hizbullah arms are in fact Iranian and they threaten the national pact.”