Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday called on the abductors of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria to “put the issue of the innocents aside” and solve their problem with Hizbullah, stressing that the Lebanese state must be in charge of security in all areas and calling for a “constituent assembly” that would “put Lebanon on the right track.”

“We have said that the abductees are Lebanese citizens and that therefore the state is responsible for their dignity and for freeing them and we are helping the state as political parties. The state and the top officials are exerting serious efforts to reach a happy ending,” Nasrallah said in a televised speech during a rally organized by Hizbullah to commemorate the 23rd death anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Abu Abdullah al-Halabi, the official spokesman for the Syrian Revolutionary Council for Aleppo and its Countryside, on Friday stressed that his council had nothing to do with a previously unknown armed group which on Thursday claimed responsibility for the May 22 abduction of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims.

Halabi said a statement sent by the alleged abductors to Al-Jazeera television was not received by his council which learned about it from a “common mediator.”

U.N.-Arab League Special Envoy for Syria Kofi Annan on Friday said Lebanese authorities were doing everything possible to prevent arms smuggling across the border with Syria.

“We should deter arms smuggling and the Lebanese government informed me clearly that it prevents smuggling,” Annan said in a press conference at the Grand Serail following talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

President Michel Suleiman held talks with Saudi King Abdullah in Jeddah on Friday, more than a week after the monarch announced his support for the National Dialogue that the Lebanese head of state had called for.

The talks were attended by the Lebanese official delegation accompanying Suleiman, including Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi.

Former Prime Minister Omar Karami expressed fears on Friday that the National Dialogue between the bickering parties would fail over the conditions set by the March 14 opposition coalition.

“We hope that the national dialogue would succeed but the conditions imposed by some parties push us to believe that the conditions for the success of dialogue haven’t ripened yet,” he said on the 25th assassination anniversary of his brother former Premier Rashid Karami.

President Michel Suleiman held talks on Friday with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Baabda Palace, the National News Agency reported.

Miqati discussed with Suleiman the results of his recent visit to Turkey.

Workers at the State Employees' Cooperative held a sit-in on Friday across Lebanon in protest against the cabinet’s failure to approve their demands.

“Our efforts and dedication helped improve the cooperative’s work across Lebanon… but we weren’t given our simplest rights,” the employees said in a statement.

The General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces manipulated the results of the psychiatric exams for the officer recruits, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel proposed, according to the daily, to cancel the round of exams, which aims at recruiting 75 officers at the ISF, but sources close to the general director denied any fraud in the results.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major-General Paolo Serra denied on Friday obtaining any information about an assassination bid targeting Speaker Nabih Berri.

“Serra has no information about this matter,” UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in a statement.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected on Friday to announce a clear stance on the conditions set by the alleged kidnappers of 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Syria.

Nasrallah is scheduled to make a speech in UNESCO via video link during a ceremony organized by the Iranian embassy to commemorate the death of the Islamic revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.