French journalists Edith Bouvier, who sustained serious leg wounds in Syria, and William Daniels, trapped for days in bombarded Homs, have escaped Syria for Lebanon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday.

"Edith Bouvier and William Daniels are currently safe on Lebanese territory and will within moments be under the protection of our embassy in Beirut," Sarkozy said during a brief news conference on the sidelines of an EU summit in Brussels.

Hizbullah on Thursday hit back at U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon’s call for the group to disarm, stressing that “Lebanon has the right to possess weapons to defend its land and sovereignty against Israel’s occupation and threats.”

“Hizbullah stresses that it took up arms to liberate the Lebanese territory, which Ban Ki-moon and his international organization had miserably failed to protect,” Hizbullah said in a statement, noting that the U.N. “failed to force the Israeli occupier to withdraw.”

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Thursday met with Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh at his residence in Bnachii, raising concerns regarding Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s “recent trip to Iran and his statements from Tehran,” the U.S. embassy in Beirut said in a statement.

Ghosn’s statements “suggest the Minister’s discussions could potentially lead to violations by Lebanon of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1747 and 1929,” the embassy quoted Connelly as saying.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated on Thursday that the March 14 press conference scheduled for Friday will serve as the “final warning” for the March 8 camp to “cease its spiteful acts.”

He told the Central News Agency: “Strife may erupt if the dispute between the March 8 and 14 camps over government spending is not resolved.”

Speaker Nabih Berri requested on Thursday that Cyprus support the proposal that the United Nations demarcate Lebanon’s maritime border and exclusive economic zone.

He said: “We appreciate Cyprus’ understanding of our fears that Israel may exploit its agreements with Cyprus in order to violate Lebanon’s petroleum wealth and increase its violations of the country’s sovereignty.”

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel hoped on Thursday that the European Union would adopt a dialogue on the ongoing Arab revolutions.

He said after holding talks in Rome with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano: “Europe should adopt such a dialogue in order to maintain the peaceful nature of the Arab Spring and prevent it from spiraling towards permanent violence in the region.”

The newly-appointed President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Sir David Baragwanath stated that the STL does not have jurisdiction in tackling the “so-called false witnesses file.”

He said in his first public statements since assuming his position: “We don’t have jurisdiction to tackle the false witnesses file until the Lebanese government, U.N., and Security Council agree to it.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said Thursday that political and security stability is the basis for the success of his government’s economic plan and vowed to announce more projects.

At the opening of the Saudi-Lebanese Economic Forum at the Phoenicia hotel in Beirut, Miqati said: “Our government has announced and will announce more economic steps to improve the investment environment and attract Arab investments.”

The cabinet is expected to tackle during its session next week a decree set to organize the country’s natural resources sector, and swiftly appoint the members of the committee tasked with administrating the oil sector.

“For the first time in history we have studies that estimate the quantities (of oil wealth in our offshores), and they are huge… They are enough to secure the future of the coming generations,” Energy Minister Jebran Bassil told As Safir newspaper on Thursday.

Four men have assaulted Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani’s son at a restaurant in Beirut’s seafront of Raouche, the Dar al-Fatwa’s press office said.

The statement said that Sheikh Ragheb Qabbani was “beaten by “provocateurs while having lunch at a Beirut restaurant” on Wednesday. The men also cursed him and his father, it said.