Three troops were martyred and four others were wounded on Saturday evening in the border town of Arsal when a suicide bomber driving a booby-trapped car blew himself up at an army checkpoint in region.

"A suicide bomber driving a booby-trapped car blew himself up at an army checkpoint in the Wadi Ata region in Arsal,” the military institution said in a communique.

The Air Traffic Controllers' committee announced on Saturday that it will partially suspend its work at the Rafic Hariri International Airport on Tuesday, to protest the new wage scale draft law.

"We cannot but protest to restate the demands of the air traffic controllers, whose technical specialties and particular skills are responsible for the safety of passengers arriving in and leaving Lebanon,” the committee said in a released statement.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim warned on Saturday of the “delicate security situation in the country,” considering that all international efforts to preserve stability “are worthless if the Lebanese don't meet them with awareness.”

"The security situation in the country is very delicate, and the presence of large numbers of Palestinian and Syrian refugees has changed all considerations and equations,” Ibrahim said in an interview with the Qatari daily Al-Raya.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah hinted on Saturday that his party will boycott national dialogue, encouraging instead the election of a new president before resuming talks.

Nasrallah also lashed out at president Michel Suleiman's stance on the army-people-resistance equation.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee announced on Saturday that it will stage a strike on Wednesday over the officials' failure to refer the new wage scale to parliament for approval.

The SCC will hold the strike and stage a sit-in at Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square, it announced in light of the joint parliamentary committees' failure on Friday to finalize the discussion of the new wage scale.

The Bekaa town of Arsal witnessed on Saturday a surge in Syrian refugees fleeing the region of al-Qalamoun following the fall of the Syrian villages of Flita and Ras al-Maarra in the hands of regime forces, reported the National News Agency.

Around 700 refugees arrived in the town up until noon on Saturday amid the heavy deployment of the Lebanese army in the area.

Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel warned on Saturday that Lebanon is passing through a very difficulty stage, highlighting the need to stage the presidential elections on time.

He said after holding talks on the elections with Speaker Nabih Berri: “The election of a new president will help restore Lebanon's role among the international community.”

A meeting of Maronite leaders held at Bkirki on Friday stressed the need to hold the presidential elections on time and according to the constitution, it said in a statement on Saturday.

A Bkirki media spokesman told reporters that all four of the Maronite leaders, Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party chief Amin Gemayel, and Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh are candidates in the elections.

Arrest warrants were issued on Saturday against six National Social Security Fund (NSSF) employees, reported the National News Agency.

It said that they have been charged with embezzlement of public funds, counterfeiting documents and incitement to commit arson inside an NSSF branch.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher voiced fears over the possible normalization of Syrian refugees in Lebanon should the conflict in their country take a long time to be resolved, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He told the daily that the danger of their normalization exists, urging the Lebanese government to take the necessary plans to contain the impact of the Syrian conflict.