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.

A previous political adviser to the King of Saudi Arabia has been freed early this month after being abducted from his own house in the northern Metn District of Mount Lebanon and held hostage for one day, the An-Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

In an phone interview to the daily, Ahmed al-Ajaji said: “On March the 9th I was sleeping at my own home in the Beit Misk project and woke up later to find myself somewhere else,” he believes that he was drugged and taken a hostage.

Jordanian King Abdullah II expressed fear on Saturday over the situation in Lebanon, deeming that it's the most affected by the ongoing conflict in neighboring country Syria.

“Our hearts are with Lebanon as it is affected the most by the Syrian crisis in light of the demographic structure,” the king said in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.

Clergymen are preparing for a Muslim-Christian conference to denounce extremism and defend the presence of Christians in the Middle East, As Safir newspaper reported on Saturday.

According to the newspaper, the Muslim Scholars Coalition and the Muslim Scholars of the Levant are holding talks with various religious and political figures in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan to prepare for the conference.

A security plan was established to restore calm in the northern city of Tripoli after the death toll rose to 25 as clashes flared again,

Minister of Social Affairs Rashid Derbas revealed in comments published in An Nahar newspaper on Saturday that a comprehensive security was established and will be discussed during a meeting for the Higher Defense Council.

Hizbullah will not attend the national dialogue session set to be held on March 31 at the Baabda Palace, local newspapers reported on Saturday.

A Hizbullah source hinted in comments published in al-Liwaa newspaper that the party prefers to participate in a session headed by a new president other than Michel Suleiman.

Shells fired from Syria landed on several areas in the northern border region of Wadi Khaled on Friday evening, the state-run National News Agency reported.

"Several shells hit the outskirts of the Buqaiaa town in Wadi Khaled near the old railway,” the NNA said.