Head of the Phalange Party Amin Gemayel noted that Hizbullah is taking advantage of its resistance role in order to nibble at Lebanon's geography and sovereignty, warning that the nation could one day come under the party's domination, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Thursday.

“Hizbullah is trying to eat away Lebanon's geography, sovereignty, the people's interests and rights, and the role of the state's institutions ….one day Lebanon could become subject to the domination of Hizbullah under the pretext of resistance,” said Gemayel in an interview to the daily.

Military Tribunal Judge Saqr Saqr is studying the testimony of former Minister Michel Samaha over the alleged involvement of Syrian President Bashar Assad's adviser Buthaina Shaaban's connection to his case, reported the National News Agency.

Samaha was interrogated by Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida on whether the former minister had contacted the Syrian official while he was in Syria to transport explosives from Damascus to Beirut, reported al-Mustaqbal daily on Thursday.

The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, has arrived in Saudi Arabia at the start of his second regional tour, the United Nations said Wednesday.

Brahimi had first gone to the Middle East in mid-September, visiting Damascus, where he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad -- but earned no promises of concessions from him.

A Syrian passenger plane was forced to land in Ankara on Wednesday evening on suspicions that it was carrying weapons, Anatolia news agency reported citing officials.

"We received information that the plane's cargo did not comply with rules of civil aviation," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the agency.

Hizbullah Chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will have a televised appearance on Thursday to discuss current issues on the Lebanese and regional scenes, including rumors of a Lebanese drone crossing into Israeli airspace.

Al-Manar TV reported on Wednesday that Nasrallah will speak at 8:30 p.m. to tackle the latest developments regarding his party's alleged involvement in Syria's events.

Forty-eight Iranians held hostage by rebels in Syria and threatened with execution were in "good health," Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Wednesday.

"Thanks to God, all of them are in good health," Salehi said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Damascus on Wednesday rejected a call by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for it to declare a unilateral ceasefire, insisting that rebels fighting the government must stop the violence first.

"We told Ban Ki-moon to send emissaries to the countries which have influence on the armed groups, so that they put an end to the violence," foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Maqdisi said.

A Syrian cameraman working for an official television channel was shot dead "by terrorists" on Wednesday in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, his broadcaster announced.

Cameraman Mohammed al-Ashram "was killed by terrorists" in Deir Ezzor, the largest city in eastern Syria, Al-Ikhbariya director Imad Sara told AFP, using the Syrian regime's blanket term for armed rebels.

The March 14 General Secretariat hoped on Wednesday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would handle the 2005 assassination of MP Gebran Tueni in hope that it would reach the truth behind his murder.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “Such a case and others like it should not be treated nonchalantly like another WikiLeaks report.”

Syria's main exiled opposition coalition the Syrian National Council will in a "matter of days" set up in a rebel-controlled area inside the country, a top member of the group said on Wednesday.

"Very soon, we will install ourselves in Syria, deep in Syrian territory. It's a matter of days," Jamal al-Ward, a SNC official in charge of relations with the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA), told AFP.