Former premier Fouad Saniora, head of the al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, urged Hizbullah on Friday to “return to Lebanon” and end its military intervention in neighboring Syria, which the party argues is necessary to protect Lebanon from extremist attacks.

“We believe that there is an essential need for Hizbullah's return to Lebanon, as this move would make it gain a lot through enhancing its ties with all the components of the Lebanese people and putting an end to the excuses used by some parties to carry out suicide attacks, which we condemn and reject,” Saniora said as he inspected renovation works in downtown Sidon.

A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon patrol was pelted by rocks by residents of the southern town of Aita al-Shaab as it was taking photographs of the area, reported the National News Agency on Friday.

Spokesman for the force Andrea Tenenti said that some 50 residents halted the patrol as it approached the area, surrounded it, and began pelting it with rocks.

Damascus condemned on Friday the “terrorist operation” targeting Lebanon, stressing on its readiness to cooperate with Lebanese authorities to “fight terrorism.”

"We are ready to cooperate with the Lebanese Ministry of Interior to fight terrorism, persecute terrorists, and to seize criminal tools that are destabilizing Lebanon, Syria and the entire region,” the Syrian Interior Ministry said in a released statement.

Customs authorities at the Rafik Hariri International Airport foiled two attempts to smuggle 7.5 kilograms of cocaine into the country on Friday.

“Two Turkish citizens were arrested for trying to smuggle the drugs from Venezuela into Lebanon,” NNA said, noting that one of the Turks arrived from France and the other from Abu Dhabi.

Rockets and shells fired from the Lebanese-Syrian border area landed in several regions in northern Bekaa on Friday.

"Three rockets fired from the Eastern Mountain Range (on the Lebanese-Syrian border) have landed in the hills between the towns of al-Ain and al-Fakiha in Baalbek, causing no casualties," state-run National News Agency reported in the evening.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement MP Ahmed Fatfat held talks with Lebanese Forces Chief Samir Geagea in an attempt to rectify ties between the two parties after the formation of Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet.

Fatfat stressed after a two-hour meeting in Maarab that the two parties are “allies,” pointing out that “it's is a necessity to reconsider the current political stage after the formation of the new government, which we hoped that the LF would have been part of.”

The death toll in the double suicide bombing that rocked Beirut's southern suburbs earlier this week rose to 11 as an Ethiopian woman succumbed to her injuries on Friday.

The Ethiopian domestic worker was transported to Rafik Hariri state hospital on Wednesday after two powerful blasts targeted an Iranian cultural center in the neighborhood of Bir Hassan.

The Arab Summit that will be held in Kuwait on March 25 and 26 is expected to tackle the latest developments in Lebanon and will be preceded by a meeting for the International Support Group for Lebanon that is set to be held in Paris in early March.

A diplomatic source said in comments published in As Safir newspaper that the Arab Summit will address the situation in Lebanon and stress its keenness to safeguard the country's stability, security and reiterate its support to the state's dissociation policy.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun is highly likely to reach the presidency after a U.S. and Saudi rapprochement with him, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

The daily said Washington believes that Lebanon needs a strong president, who is capable of discussing with Hizbullah about its arms or the defense strategy rather than provoking it.

Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji is scheduled to visit Italy in the coming days to consolidate military ties with the European country and discuss the preparations for the conference aimed at shoring up support for the Lebanese army.

Qahwaji will seek to brief Italian military officials on the needs of the Lebanese army, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.