The pastor of Baalbek-Deir al-Ahmar escaped a kidnap attempt on Saturday evening in the Bekaa.

“Pastor Semaan Atallah was able to escape an abduction attempt on the Iaat-Deir al-Ahmar road,” the state-run National News Agency.

Syrian helicopters fired several rockets on Saturday evening on the Arsal plains in the Bekaa.

"A Syrian army helicopter fired two rockets on Wadi al-Raayan area in Arsal,” the state-run National News Agency said.

Prime Minister Tamman Salam reiterated on Saturday his support for the state's “legitimate institutions,” calling for providing them with the needed political cover.

"Our choice is the state's security and and legitimate institutions only,” Salam said in an interview with Radio Orient.

Sniper activity continued on Saturday afternoon in the northern city of Tripoli, wounding at least one person.

"Ahmed Mheish was wounded by sniper fire at al-Malloula highway in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

The number of Syrians that have arrived in Lebanon after fleeing the village of al-Hosn in central Syria has risen to 300, the state-run National News Agency said Saturday.

"300 Syrian men, women, children and elderly have crossed the Grand River stream and arrived in Lebanese border towns,” the NNA detailed, adding that many of these refugees were concentrated in the villages of the Wadi Khaled region in the North.

The army has arrested 43 Syrians in the northeastern border town of Arsal and handed them over to the Military Police, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

"The number of men arrested by the army at checkpoints erected three days ago in the Arsal plains has risen to 43,” the NNA said.

President Michel Suleiman warned on Saturday of the consequences of the continuous assaults against the army, calling on the military to strike with an iron fist.

“We should expressed our solidarity with the army and support it in its national missions inside the country and across the border,” Suleiman said after talks with General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale stressed on Saturday the importance of carrying out the presidential and parliamentary elections, pointing out that his country's role is to safeguard the democratic process.

“The U.S. role is not to pick or choose (instead of the Lebanese) but we want to help protect the process and prevent outsiders from making choices that only the Lebanese should make,” Hale said via twitter after talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.

Internal Security Forces raided on Saturday a branch for the National Social Security Fund in the Beirut neighborhood of Wata el-Msaytbeh, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The NNA said that an ISF patrol was investigating a violation carried out at the National Social Security Fund branch.

The General Directorate of State Security detained a four-member network specialized with trafficking and smuggling weapons to armed groups in the neighboring country Syria, the state-run National News Agency reported on Saturday.

The NNA said that the State Security Bureau in the southern Nabatiyeh province thwarted an attempt by the network to smuggle arms to gunmen in Syria.