The rebel Free Syrian Army is suspending operations against regime forces during the mission of monitors deployed in Syria to implement an Arab League peace plan, its chief told Agence France Presse on Saturday.

"We have decided to stop all the operations, except those for self-defense," dissident Colonel Riyadh Asaad told AFP in a telephone interview from his base in Turkey.

The March 14 opposition vowed on Saturday to continue in the path of the Cedar Revolution to achieve full sovereignty and strive for stability based on the justice guaranteed by the international tribunal.

A statement issued following a meeting of the March 14 general-secretariat, said the opposition will continue its struggle to achieve “full state sovereignty whereby there won’t be any arms other than the weapons of the state on all Lebanese territories.”

The United Nations said Friday it expects Syrian authorities to grant unfettered access and complete cooperation to Arab observers as bloodshed continues amid a crackdown on protesters.

"It is critical that the observer mission be given unhindered access and full cooperation by the government of Syria, and that its independence and impartiality be fully preserved," U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

The Syrian National Council (SNC) opposition group has signed a political agreement with another faction of dissidents laying the ground rules for a "transitional period" should the regime be toppled, a statement said.

The SNC, a major umbrella of factions opposed to Syrian President Bashar Assad, signed the deal with the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, NCB chief Hassan Abdel Azim told Agence France Presse.

Jordan has chosen 12 judges and military experts to join an Arab League observer mission in Syria, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The semi-official Ad-Dustour newspaper quoted Information Minister Rakan Majali as saying "the final list of names of the Jordanian team expected to join the observers' mission in Syria is ready."

Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi stressed that he has “no information” about the presence of al-Qaida in Lebanon, an issue that has stirred controversy in the past week.

In remarks to al-Joumhouria daily published Saturday, Rifi said the ISF helps the Lebanese Army in controlling the border and combatting arms smuggling.

The Philippine foreign minister will fly to Syria to help speed up the repatriation of Filipinos from the strife-torn country, a statement said Saturday.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario will depart on a Qatar Airways flight to Damascus late Saturday to make sure that the repatriation of Filipinos "can be made as secure as possible,” the ministry said in a statement.

Former MP Mustafa Alloush accused supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad of opening fire on his house in the northern city of Tripoli at dawn Saturday.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3), Alloush said that a group of armed men began cursing outside his home and shouting pro-Assad slogans around 1:00 am.

The Syrian mission at the U.N. delivered a letter to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the “terrorist bombings” in Damascus in which it included statements made by Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn on al-Qaida.

An Nahar daily said Saturday that the Lebanese foreign ministry was informed about the letter by Lebanon’s permanent mission to the U.N.

Hundreds of protesters hit the streets in north Lebanon Friday to support the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, organizing blood drives and marching towards the volatile border.

Some 500 Lebanese and Syrians rallied near a border crossing in the Akkar district of Wadi Khaled, which straddles the Syrian border, amid tight security.