Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, the country's highest religious authority, said on Thursday that Der Spiegel magazine misinterpreted his statements concerning Syrian President Bashar Assad’s resignation after he has implemented reforms.

“I only intended to explain the developments in Syria,” Hassoun wrote on his website.

Lebanon's premier has come under mounting pressure over the kidnapping of Syrian dissidents in Lebanon, with the opposition accusing his government of kowtowing to the regime in Damascus.

"The government of Najib Miqati is employing all diplomatic, security and political channels to back the Syrian regime," said Fares Soeid, secretary general of the March 14-led opposition.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Hizbullah of refusing to contact other Lebanese factions in the country, saying that it opposes holding talks with “imperialists” or whoever it cannot persuade to support its agenda.

He told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published on Thursday: “Hizbullah’s security and military connections with regional powers will incur consequences on Lebanon if it launched a confrontation with the West and Arab world.”

Rajaa Sharafeddine, the daughter of a Syrian opposition member who was allegedly kidnapped in the eastern Lebanese region of Aley, has demanded that Hizbullah mediate with its close ally Syria the release of her father, Shebli al-Aysami.

She told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Thursday that the Syrian regime “should not turn its mistake into a sin and it should therefore ensure his immediate release.”

The March 14-led opposition wants to debrief the cabinet and Prime Minister Najib Miqati over the “security scandal” in Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday.

The report said that this “scandal” includes the kidnapping of Syrian opposition figures in Lebanon and the “security and media ban the security forces imposed on the northern Lebanese area of Wadi Khaled” near Syria.

President Michel Suleiman held separate talks on Wednesday with a number of security officials, urging them to intensify their efforts in maintaining Lebanon’s security given the current situation in the country, reported the daily An Nahar Thursday.

He held talks with General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim, Internal Security Forces chief Ashraf Rifi, Military Intelligence Director Edmond Fadel, and General Director of State Security George Qaraa.

The media campaign that is targeting the Lebanese army aims at forcing it to lift its control of the Lebanese-Syrian border, As Safir newspaper reported on Thursday.

“The military should remain neutral. They want chaos along the border, but the army will not be affected by their (campaign),” high-ranking military sources told the daily.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati arrived back to Beirut from London on Wednesday evening and immediately contacted Higher Relief Council Chief, Brigadier Ibrahim Bashir, asking him to follow up on the humanitarian situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

“Rumors about the halt of aid to the refugees is untrue and falls under political propaganda” Miqati said in a statement.

Western nations on Wednesday condemned opponents of UN action against Syria with France accusing many Security Council powers of "indifference" toward killings being carried out by government forces.

A Security Council debate on protecting civilians reopened diplomatic wounds over the NATO airstrikes in Libya as well as the failure to agree to a stance on President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown in Syria.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday that Premier Najib Miqati will not resign, stressing that the fall of the Syrian regime will solve some of the problems in Lebanon.

Hariri said on Twitter fielding questions from his supporters that he never wanted to go into politics, “but in a split second in 2005 everything changed.”