Four gunmen kidnapped a Syrian businessman as he crossed into Lebanon from the Masnaa border checkpoint in the Bekaa valley on Wednesday, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said that the four men intercepted the BMW 530 of Mohammed al-Jabi, 55, and kidnapped him at gunpoint. The car’s Syrian license plate is 976145.

The head of the Democratic Renewal Movement, former MP Nassib Lahoud, passed away at dawn Thursday after a long battle with illness. He was 68.

Lahoud, who was a lawmaker between 1991 and 2005, died at Hotel Dieu Hospital in Ashrafiyeh.

The Trial Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has decided to try the four men accused in the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri in absentia, the STL said on Wednesday in a statement.

“The Trial Chamber examined numerous documents from the Tribunal's Prosecutor (Daniel Bellemare) and the Lebanese Prosecutor-General (Saeed Mirza), which detail the steps taken by the Lebanese authorities to apprehend the accused and inform them about the proceedings,” the Hague-based court said.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Wednesday threatened to boycott cabinet sessions if a dispute over the issue of administrative appointments was not resolved, after the Free Patriotic Movement ministers walked out from Wednesday’s session prompting its suspension.

The cabinet, however, managed to reach an agreement over the controversial issue of telecom data before the session was adjourned.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday stressed Syria’s “keenness on Lebanon’s stability” during a meeting in Damascus with Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab, the party’s media department said in a statement.

The two men discussed the situations in Lebanon and the Arab region during their “three-hour meeting,” the party added.

Energy Minister Jebran Bassil hailed on Wednesday what he called the “positive gesture” of the cabinet to lease power-generating ships to help reduce severe electricity rationing in the country.

“What happened yesterday was a good gesture by the government in terms of reforming the electricity” sector, Bassil said in a press conference.

The March 14 General Secretariat praised on Wednesday the Syrian National Council’s open letter to the Lebanese people, saying that a free and independent Syria’s recognition of a sovereign Lebanon is the only way to rebuild solid Lebanese-Syrian ties based on trust and cooperation.

It said in a letter to the Syrian people: “Democratic change in Syria will mark an historic opportunity for its development and guarantee Lebanon’s independence.”

The Audit Bureau’s acting general prosecutor, Judge Bassam Wehbe, announced on Wednesday that he would issue his review on the initial investigation report on the red diesel scandal within a week and hold accountable those involved in the case.

“The Bureau has informed the premiership about the report that it received from the inspectors’ committee tasked by the Bureau to investigate the case,” Wehbe told the National News Agency.

Customs agents at the Rafik Hariri International Airport thwarted on Wednesday an attempt to smuggle 500 iPhones from Australia, reported the National News Agency.

The iPhones were discovered in the luggages of three Australians of Lebanese origin, who arrived in Lebanon from Australia through Dubai.

The Council of Maronite Bishops urged politicians on Wednesday to safeguard Lebanon amid the swift developments in the region that can have negative repercussions on the country, expressing fears over the continuing land sales to foreigners for financial gains.

Following their monthly meeting headed by Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki, the bishops called for unity among the Lebanese people.