Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday revealed that the extremist al-Nusra Front is preparing to storm the mainly Christian Syrian town of Bloudan near Damascus, lashing out at those who are allegedly backing the jihadist group instead of supporting the historic neighboring town of Maalula.

“We were surprised by a cable received by OTV and FPM's website saying '… amid the assault on the town of Maalula, al-Nusra Front is trying to invade the Christian town of Bloudan, and we are raising our voice because we need greater protection.'”

The Gulf Cooperation Council stated on Tuesday that the process of blacklisting Hizbullah as a terrorist organization would take time.

“The process requires time and a procedures linked to a united Gulf stance on the party,” explained Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled bin Mohammed al-Khalifa at the beginning of a GCC council meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Syrian President Bashar Assad has denied in an interview with CBS television that he was behind a chemical attack last month and called on lawmakers to reject planned U.S. military strikes, the U.S. network said Sunday.

"He denied that he had anything to do with the attack," CBS veteran correspondent Charlie Rose said, speaking after earlier interviewing Assad in Syria.

More than 1,000 Christians held a prayer vigil for peace in Damascus on Saturday, heeding a call from the Vatican, as the U.S. pressed for a military strike on Syria.

Men, women and children thronged Our Lady of Dormition, the Melkite Greek Catholic patriarchal cathedral in the Old City of Damascus, for an emotionally charged plea for peace.

The United States' Secretary of State assured on Saturday that his country is not paving the way to evacuate all its employees from Beirut, ahead of the possible U.S.-led military strike against Syria.

"We did not recall our staff from Beirut,” John Kerry stated at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Paris.

Churches in Lebanon held prayers on Saturday night for peace in Syria and against any armed intervention in the country, in a response to Pope Francis' calls.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi led prayers at Our Lady of Lebanon basilica in Harissa, the state-run National News Agency said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said he held talks on Syria with U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit but confirmed the meeting did not end their differences on the conflict, as the American leader said he knew convincing the U.S. Congress to back military action against Damascus would be a "heavy lift."

"We spoke sitting down... it was a constructive, meaningful, cordial conversation. Each of us kept with our own opinion," Putin told reporters, saying the meeting lasted 20 to 30 minutes.

The U.S. embassy in Beirut said Friday that its non-essential staff and family members are being evacuated from Lebanon because of "threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel."

"On September 6 2013, the Department of State drew down non-emergency personnel and family members from Embassy Beirut due to threats to U.S. mission facilities and personnel," a statement on the embassy website said.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said Friday that a naval torpedo destroyer was being deployed just off the Lebanese coast to protect the 1,100 Italian troops on U.N. peacekeeping duty in Lebanon.

Italian media reported a second warship, a frigate, was also being sent to Lebanon's coast, but the Defense Ministry denied plans to deploy it.

Hizbullah on Thursday condemned plans for U.S.-led military action against Damascus as an “aggression” and “organized terrorism,” warning that it would pose a “threat to regional and international peace and security.”

In a statement issued after its periodic meeting in Haret Hreik, the party's Loyalty to Resistance parliamentary bloc stressed that any strike is “rejected and condemned by all standards, regardless of its alibis or limits, and it will not be able to conceal its objectives, which are aimed at reviving the Israeli arm again and attempting to tighten the Western colonial grip on the region and its fortunes.”