Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Friday received a phone call from U.S. president Barack Obama who congratulated him over the new cabinet's formation.

Obama stressed during the call on the importance of holding the presidential elections on time, before the constitutional deadline.

The March 14 General Secretariat on Friday called on the government to file complaints with the Arab League and the U.N. over the latest Syrian shelling of border areas, urging Hizbullah to take a “clear and frank stance over the Syrian regime's attacks.”

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the general secretariat said it “thoroughly discussed the Syrian regime's recurrent violation of Lebanese sovereignty through ground and aerial shelling and its assassination and chasing of innocent Lebanese citizens with military helicopters.”

A Lebanese and a Syrian shepherd were killed on Friday after Syrian forces opened fire on them on the outskirts of neighboring towns in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Yasser Mohammed Yassine, a 44-year-old Lebanese, and his Syrian relative, Ahmed Nader, from the town of Kfaryabous were killed on the outskirts of Anjar and Majdal Anjar, a security source said.

The northern city of Tripoli was witnessing fierce clashes on Friday as the casualty toll from nine days of fighting rose to at least 25 dead and 175 wounded amid a call for a unilateral ceasefire and intensive political contacts to end the violence.

"After we held contacts with the army command in the North, we asked the leaders of Bab al-Tabbaneh and the neighboring areas to cease fire starting 10:00 PM and the army must respond to any source of gunfire," MP Mohammed Kabbara said after an emergency meeting for the Islamic National Gathering at his residence.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam entered the Grand Serail on Friday in an official ceremony a day after his 24-member government received a vote of confidence.

Senior staff welcomed him at the government house in downtown Beirut.

The General Security Directorate slammed on Friday criticism by Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab concerning the continuous visits by its chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim to foreign countries, in particular to Syria.

“Ibrahim cares to clarify that his visits to foreign countries and specifically to Syria fall under the state's authority, including President Michel Suleiman,” a communique issued by the General Security Directorate stressed.

The cabinet is set to hold a meeting next week after President Michel Suleiman returns from Kuwait where he will attend the Arab Summit, which is expected to tackle the latest developments in Lebanon.

Sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday that the cabinet will hold it's first meeting after it won a confidence vote in parliament on Thursday.

President Michel Suleiman lashed out at the resistance on Friday, saying that it transcended the power given to it when it decided to engage in battles in the neighboring country Syria.

“I am committed to my inauguration oath but when the resistance surpassed the authority given to it I had to be honest with the public and say what my responsibilities compel my as per my constitutional post,” Suleiman said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper.

The presidency issued on Friday invitations to the concerned political parties to resume the national dialogue on March 31.

It said in a statement that the session will resume discussions on a national defense strategy.

Lebanese citizen George Kahmazian, who was abducted in Baalbek on Thursday, has been released after the payment of a ransom to his kidnappers, the state-run National News Agency said.

NNA said Kahmazian was set free at dawn Friday after the abductors were paid a 12,000 dollar ransom.