State security forces in the Bekaa arrested on Saturday a gang for smuggling Syrians into Lebanon, reported the National News Agency.

It said that the three-member gang was smuggling Syrians into Lebanon through the Rashaya region.

The technical and logistic preparations of the security plan for the northern city of Tripoli are underway ahead of its imminent implementation.

An Nahar daily reported that the plan will take effect in two days.

The seat of the Maronite church in Bkirki witnessed Friday evening a meeting between top Maronite leaders, amid the absence of Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea for “security reasons.”

“Bishop Samir Mazloum presided over a meeting attended by Kataeb party leader Amin Gemayel, head of Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun and Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea announced Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri will call for a parliamentary session to elect a new president once a delegation he has tasked to communicate with all parties finishes its mission.

“Speaker Berri will call for an electoral session when the committee finishes its tour,” Geagea said after meeting with the three-member panel in Maarab.

The United Nations announced on Friday that it has no intentions of deploying international peacekeeping forces on the northern border with Syria, preferring instead to support the military institution's efforts.

In an interview with the pan-Arab al-Arabiya television taped in New York, U.N. Special Coordinator Derek Plumbly said security institutions will protect Lebanon by controlling the situation in the northern city of Tripoli, and arresting those accused of being behind terrorist attacks.

The joint parliamentary committees on Friday failed to finalize the discussion of the new wage scale despite a “positive atmosphere” in their meeting as the Syndicate Coordination Committee warned that it was headed for an escalation.

“The atmosphere was positive and we finalized the report and started discussions over the legal clauses in the new wage scale,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan, head of the parliamentary finance committee, told reporters after the meeting.

An Internal Security Forces member was killed in the northern city of Tripoli on Friday, in the second such attack on armed forces in two days, the state-run National News Agency reported, as the army started pursuing suspected perpetrators.

NNA said Butros al-Bayaa was in his Range Rover when armed men opened fire on him in the area of al-Qobbeh at around 5:30 am.

The March 14 General Secretariat demanded on Friday the Foreign Ministry to file a complaint against Syria with United Nations over the cross-border violations.

“As it is a balanced cabinet, we expect from the current Foreign Minister (Jebran Bassil) to comply with the President’s demand to document the cross-border violations and file a complaint with the U.N. against whoever breaches the country's sovereignty,” the general secretariat said after its regular meeting.

President Michel Suleiman urged on Friday the Lebanese Armed Forces to confront terrorists and criminals no matter how much sacrifices they make.

In a statement issued by Baabda Palace, Suleiman said: “All terrorist activities that target the members of the army and police won't stop those forces from implementing the decision of the government to preserve security and stability.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Friday that partnership between the legislative and executive authorities was necessary to confront major political events.

Following talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh, Salam said: “We are living in difficult circumstances … which require continuous consultations.”