Caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil issued a warning on Friday that the army and the resistance have the ability to protect Lebanon's oil reserves from Israel after he accused it of digging a well 4 kilometers from Lebanese offshore reserves.

During a press conference he held at the ministry, Bassil said: “Israel now has the ability to reach Lebanon's oil reserves.”

First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida received on Friday the case of the detained suspects in Abra clashes a day after State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged 27 people, 10 of them in absentia.

According to the state-run National News Agency, Abu Ghida will interrogate the suspects on Monday over the deadly clashes with the Lebanese army in the southern town of Abra near the city of Sidon.

Mohammed al-Tufayli, a Lebanese man kidnapped in the eastern city of Baalbek last week, has been released in a swap that involved eight Syrians abducted by his family, Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) reported Friday.

VDL said that the exchange took place on Thursday night. It did not give further details.

Attempts by President Michel Suleiman to bring viewpoints closer between Speaker Nabih Berri and Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati on a controversial parliamentary session have failed, media reports said Friday.

Local dailies quoted informed sources as saying that a meeting held between Suleiman, Berri and Miqati at Baabda palace on Wednesday night focused on the constitutionality of the session that the speaker has called for.

Fierce clashes erupted between Hizbullah fighters and the Free Syrian Army rebels in several Bekaa towns, media reports said on Friday.

The clashes took place overnight Thursday in the Bekaa towns of Nabi Sheet and Brital and al-Khodr, according to the reports.

Free Patriotic Movement caretaker Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stressed on Friday the military institution will not be hit by vacuum if Army commander General Jean Qahwaji was referred to retirement.

“All the public institutions, in particular the security agency, can't suffer from vacant posts as the hierarchy prevents it,” Bassil said in comments published al-Akhbar newspaper.

Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir, whose fate became uncertain after the army stormed his headquarters on June 24, resurfaced Thursday in an alleged audio message in which he described the deadly Sidon clashes as a plot aimed at ending his presence.

“You will know and everyone must know the normal context of the incident, or rather the massacre, that happened, which is not an isolated incident, as we had raised the voice several times over the attacks of the Party of Satan (Hizbullah), the criminal AMAL Movement and the shabiha (thugs) of the so-called Lebanese army, which is in the service of Hizbullah, AMAL Movement, the criminal Syrian regime and the Iranian regime,” Asir says in the audio recording.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stated on Thursday that the recent clashes in the southern city of Sidon demonstrated that all sides must adhere to the state and its official armed forces.

He said: “We are in great need of a national plan and an expanded meeting of political forces to tackle the spread of illegitimate arms and groups.”

Senior Gulf Cooperation Council officials met in Riyadh on Thursday to coordinate sanctions in the six member states against Hizbullah over its support for the Syria regime.

The meeting was "to develop mechanisms to monitor movements, financial transactions and business operations of Hizbullah," said Bahraini deputy interior minister Khaled al-Absi.

Dar al-Fatwa Ulemas called on all the political and religious leaderships to consolidate efforts to maintain security in the country and prevent sedition.

“Political and religious figures must unite their stances and reject division... to guarantee the strength and stability of Muslims and the Sunni sect,” a statement read by Sheikh Hisham Khalifah said.