Prime Minister Najib Miqati urged on Friday all sides to tackle economic files with the same responsibility as they do national ones.

He said before a Azm Youth meeting in Tripoli: “The government has never wavered in combating daily concerns that have accumulated over the years due to past negligence.”

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Friday the need to maintain political rhetoric in Lebanon within democratic practices and national principles in accordance with the Baabda Declaration.

He said: “Lebanon's commitment to disassociate itself from the disputes of others requires the commitment of all of its Lebanese players.”

One person was wounded Thursday night when his car caught on fire and later exploded in the Bekaa, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Dhu al-Fiqar Nasreddine was lightly injured when his black Honda Accord caught on fire in the Hermel region in the Bekaa.

The cabinet is scheduled to meet on October 22 at the Grand Serail to tackle a number of pressing issues listed on its agenda, the daily al-Liwaa said Friday.

Fifty-seven items are listed on the said agenda including administrative issues, grants and most notably a suggestion to amend the draft law on the profession of pharmacy.

The Free Syrian Army accused Hizbullah of “occupying” six Syrian towns near the Lebanese-Syrian border, reported al-Liwaa newspaper on Friday.

A spokesman for the army, Fahed al-Msari, told the daily: “We doubt that United Nations and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's ceasefire proposal for the Eid al-Adha holiday will be a success amid Hizbullah's occupation of these Syrian towns.”

Ten Syrian workers were wounded when a group of Lebanese men carrying knives, machetes and sticks raided their workplace in the Beirut neighborhood of Ramlet al-Baida on Wednesday, LBCI television reported on Thursday.

“Four cars and more than ten motorcycles stopped on Wednesday near the Nora Residence workshop in Ramlet al-Baida, and more than 20 Lebanese nationals got out of them, attacking every worker they encountered,” LBCI quoted Syrian workers as saying.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that Hizbullah’s sending of a reconnaissance drone into Israel's airspace may threaten stability in Lebanon, in his 16th report on the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.

According to LBCI television, Ban also voiced his concerns over the Syrian crisis’ repercussions on the situation in Lebanon, praising the stances of President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati in regards to the so-called self-disassociation policy.

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Thursday said Hizbullah was “more of a threat to Lebanon than to Israel,” in the wake of Hizbullah's sending of a reconnaissance drone over the Jewish state.

“This organization is more of a threat to Lebanon than to Israel, because Israel is capable of defending itself,” Israel's radio quoted the Israeli president as saying.

Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Thursday noted that he had tasked MP Oqab Saqr with coordinating “humanitarian, political and media support” for the Syrian people, adding that he was not performing “a jihadist duty against the Syrian people.”

“In response to the defamation campaign against al-Mustaqbal Movement, accused by Hizbullah and its media outlets of engaging in the current conflict in Syria, and to the accusations against MP Oqab Saqr in particular, the Press Office of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri wants to clarify that … Saqr was assigned by Premier Saad Hariri to follow up on the situation in Syria and to coordinate with the political forces in the Syrian opposition regarding the media and political support of al-Mustaqbal Movement to the Syrian people," said a statement.

Independence Movement leader Michel Mouawad on Thursday stressed that an electoral law based on small electorates would guarantee Christians the best representation, unveiling a new common strategy with the Lebanese Forces for the 2013 elections in the Zgharta region.

“The electoral law proposed by the Christian forces in the March 14 camp, which is based on 50 electorates, would ensure proper representation,” Mouawad said after a meeting in Maarab with LF leader Samir Geagea.