Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Wednesday warned that the violence in Syria would spill over to Lebanon if the embattled Syrian regime was ousted, rejecting the presence of what he called “Takfiris on our border.”

“Those who backed Israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006 are the same ones who are backing the inner war against Syria, that’s why we should think of good neighborliness and the neighborhood’s security, as we cannot live with Takfiri groups on our border that are interacting with the Lebanese domestic scene,” Aoun said on the 23rd anniversary of the so-called Liberation War he waged in 1989 against Syrian forces stationed in Lebanon.

Civil society activists on Wednesday took the center stage during the rally organized by the March 14 forces to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the March 14, 2005 “Cedar Revolution.”

“Has our will really weakened? No, a thousand times no, the Cedar Revolution has not waned,” said prominent journalist May Chidiac in her speech at the rally.

The March 14 forces on Wednesday called on “all the Lebanese, without exception, to take part in preparing for an ‘uprising for peace’ that would pull us out of the tragedies of the past and lay the foundations for a better future,” during a rally at the BIEL auditorium in Beirut marking the seventh anniversary of the March 14, 2005 “Cedar Revolution.”

“Great dangers are looming today and efforts must be focused on rebuilding the foundations of a unified and unifying state that would protect all the Lebanese, through acknowledging the need to put all capabilities at its disposal,” said a document issued by the March 14 forces and recited at the rally by MP Boutros Harb.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri renewed on Wednesday the March 14 camp’s commitment to the state, saying that adhering to it will resolve the country’s disputes.

He said on the seventh anniversary of the March 14 independence movement: “The supporters of this movement will not accept that the Lebanese republic fall victim to a new form of hegemony, whether it is direct or indirect.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Wednesday Free Patriotic Movement chief MP Michel Aoun’s statements, saying that his “disastrous” tenure in rule has been rife with corruption.

He told Free Lebanon radio: “Aoun is the last person who is entitled to speak about honor.”

A wanted Lebanese man was arrested on several charges on Wednesday after he alleged that he escaped his abductors by jumping out of a speeding car, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said the man’s wife identified as Zeinab Mohammed Assaf, 22, told Burj al-Barajneh police in Beirut’s southern suburbs that brothers Fadi, Ali and Hassan al-Qaafarani kidnapped her 37-year-old husband Izzat Ali al-Hajj.

The Progressive Socialist Party announced that the 35th assassination anniversary of its founder Kamal Jumblat will not be held during a popular rally.

PSP’s media office said in a statement that the anniversary will be marked by placing a wreath at Jumblat’s grave in Mukhtara on Friday.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held a meeting with a delegation from Hamas headed by Deputy Hamas Politburo Chief Mousa Abu Marzouk, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The delegations tackled the latest developments in Syria, Gaza and the situation in the Arab world, in addition to the ties between Hizbullah, Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood.

President Michel Suleiman called on Wednesday for the coordination of the defense, interior and telecommunications ministries to resolve the case of the extremist network that was planning attacks on the Lebanese army.

According to Information Minister Walid al-Daouq, Suleiman told the cabinet that convened at Baabda palace that “the army is the backbone of stability in the country.”

President Michel Suleiman called on Wednesday for increasing the penalties imposed on those who are violating the “food safety” measures and endangering public safety.

“The issue should be treated on all levels,” Information Minister Walid al-Daouq quoted Suleiman as saying.