Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated Friday that Moscow will not push Syrian President Bashar Assad to quit, saying it would be against Russian policy and in any case would be futile.

"It is not for us to decide who should lead Syria. It is for the Syrians to decide," Lavrov said in a BBC interview.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora slammed on Friday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour for “violating the constitution” in calling the Arab League to scrap a decision to suspend Syria's membership without coordinating with the president and the prime minister.

Saniora expressed “surprise” at Mansour's call during the Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, saying he neglected the stance of President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati “in a totally unconstitutional way.”

On a dusty field in Israel's southern desert, the military is gearing up for the next battle against a familiar foe: Hizbullah fighters in Lebanon.

As the Syrian civil war intensifies, military planners are growing increasingly jittery that the fighting could spill over into Israel, potentially dragging the party that is allied with President Bashar Assad into the fray. After battling Hizbullah to a stalemate in 2006, the Israeli military says it has learned key lessons and is prepared to inflict heavy damage on the group if fighting begins again.

President Michel Suleiman is expected to hold talks with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to ask him about his recent statements over Syria at the Arab Foreign Ministers meeting, media reports said on Friday.

“Suleiman will discuss the matter with Mansour, although he believes he had good intentions,” Baabda Palace sources told al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

Video footage posted on the Internet Thursday showed some of a group of 21 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers seized by Syrian rebels the previous day, with one of them saying they were safe and being cared for, as the U.N. said it was trying to negotiate the troops' release.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights posted the video which shows six uniformed members of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), and an officer who identifies himself as a member of the Filipino battalion of the U.N.

President Michel Suleiman stated on Thursday that possible security dangers should not hinder the staging of the parliamentary elections, because these dangers will be more severe should the polls not be held and the term of the current parliament be extended.

He said: “There is a 95 percent chance that the elections will be held, but not according to the 1960 law.”

Syria's opposition National Coalition meets next week in Istanbul to discuss the formation of an interim government and the selection of its head, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Tuesday's meeting will focus on "the question of a government and its chief," said Walid al-Bunni, while stressing that the discussions were not expected to lead to the designation of an opposition prime minister.

Head of the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Mohammed Raad defended on Thursday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour's remarks on Syria Wednesday, saying that they adhere to the Lebanese government's policy of disassociation.

He said in a statement: “His statements accurately reflect Lebanon's official stance on Syria.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour pointed out on Thursday that his speech at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers held in Cairo was chosen carefully by him, stressing that he is keen to preserve Lebanon's best interest.

“I will not hesitate in saying my opinion frankly... If some officials have some matters they want to settle with me, then I'm ready,” Mansour told reporters after arriving at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International airport returning from Egypt.

Medical charity Doctors Without Borders said Thursday that Syria's health system had collapsed after nearly two years of conflict and that foreign aid was falling fall short of what was needed to address the country's "humanitarian catastrophe".

The group, known by its French initials MSF, said in a report that more than a third of Syria's hospitals were no longer functioning and urged talks on allowing for the provision of humanitarian aid.