Four gunmen on Wednesday kidnapped a Lebanese man in Arsal and took him to the outskirts of the northeastern border town, where Syria-based armed groups have a heavy presence.

“Four armed men abducted the citizen Toufiq Wehbe in Arsal and took him to the outskirts,” state-run National News Agency reported.

The March 14 forces on Wednesday condemned “the attempt by terrorist factions coming from Syria to enter Lebanon,” saying they should be confronted by the Lebanese army, while accusing the Free Patriotic Movement of “supporting militias” instead of state institutions.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the March 14 General Secretariat said it deplores “the attempt by terrorist factions coming from Syria to enter Lebanon through the northern Bekaa region and it considers it a blatant violation of national sovereignty.”

Speaker Nabih Berri refused on Wednesday staging of parliamentary elections, if it was boycotted by a key party.

“I support the staging of parliamentary elections but reject carrying it out if a key party boycotted it,” Berri said during his weekly meeting with lawmakers at Ain el-Tineh.

Families of troops and police abducted in August from the border town of Arsal reopened the vital Dahr al-Baydar road on Wednesday following days of protests, moving their sit-in to downtown Beirut where they blocked the busy Banks Street.

Their moves aim to pressure the government to exert more efforts to secure the release of their loved ones.

British Ambassador to Lebanon Fletcher stressed his country's determination to help Lebanon combat terrorism, expressing fear over the “grave dangers” facing the country.

The United Kingdom will “expand its support to Lebanon's resilience,” Fletcher told reporters after meeting with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.

Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri condemned on Wednesday the silence over the recent clashes in the Bekaa region of Brital and the bombing of an Israeli patrol in the Shebaa Farms, wondering whether the “Lebanese people should turn a blind eye to Hizbullah's actions.”

He said in a statement that the party's “insistence to adopt such choices, whether they are arbitrary or serve foreign agendas, not only hinder national efforts to combat terrorism and extremism, but they raise questions over the violations of issues that enjoy national consensus.”

A Lebanese, who was kidnapped in Mozambique in southeast Africa, was released on Wednesday a day after his abduction.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil announced via Twitter that the man was released without the payment of a ransom.

A number of Syrians were arrested on Wednesday during Army Intelligence raids in the Zgharta district in the North, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the forces arrested 11 Syrians during raids on their encampments in Ehden in Zgharta.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam called on the families of the abducted soldiers and policemen to prevent the rival political parties from exploiting their ordeal, describing the situation as “difficult and complicated.”

“I am not asking the relatives of the abducted men to trust the government, but I am asking them not to confront it... It's not the enemy nor the aggressor,” Salam said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri voiced his agreement with Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri's position that priority in Lebanon lies in electing a new president, reported the daily An Nahar on Wednesday.

He told the daily: “Political life in Lebanon will be stabilized with the election of a president.”