Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Friday said he was not surprised by the blast that rocked the Bekaa town of Nabi Sheet, but rather by “the news of the death of Hizbullah members in Syria, who were unfortunately contributing to the killing of the innocent Syrian people.”

Speaking after a meeting in Maarab with U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, Geagea warned that “the death of these members in Syria will have very dangerous repercussions, especially on the Shiite community.”

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly on Friday said “the United States calls on all parties to work together to insulate Lebanon from the effects of the violence in Syria resulting from the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on the Syrian people.”

Speaking after a meeting with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in Maarab, Connelly said she discussed with the LF leader their “deep concern over the destabilizing actions of Syria in Lebanon.” 

German federal prosecutors on Friday charged a 48-year-old man of dual German-Lebanese nationality alleged to have been spying for Damascus on opponents of the Syrian regime in Germany.

Prosecutors said the man, named only as Mahmoud El. A, was a Syrian secret service operative between April 2007 until his arrest in February 2012.

Speaker Nabih Berri cabled on Friday Syrian President Bashar Assad on the occasion of the anniversary of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli War.

He said: “Your country is passing through one of its most difficult tests and I am certain that your experience in defying Israel will enable you to overcome your current crisis.”

A Lebanese man accused of plotting an attack on Israeli tourists in Cyprus pleaded not guilty on Friday before a criminal court in the southern city of Limassol, court sources said.

Hossam Taleb Yaacoub, who was arrested in the southern resort city some three months ago, appeared before the court under tight security.

Internal Security Forces detained on Friday two Syrian nationals who infiltrated the outskirts of Shebaa from their Syrian town of Beit Jin, the National News Agency reported.

Khaled Ahmed Kamal and Ahmed Qassem Kamal crossed into Lebanon through Mount Hermon, the news agency said.

The Nabi Sheet explosion in a Hizbullah arms depot occurred due to a flame in one of the shells percussion caps which led to the series of explosions, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Friday.

According to information obtained by the daily, the security report says that the high temperature in the area helped the fire to combust swiftly.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel reiterated on Friday the need to reach an agreement over a new parliamentary electoral law four or five months before the 2013 elections are set to take place, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Friday.

He told the daily: “Discussions on the electoral law have been limited to the government proposal on the matter despite the various draft laws presented by different political powers.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Friday that Lebanon remains one of the “very secure” countries, pointing out that the reasons behind the Nabi Sheet explosion that happened in a Hizbullah arms depot are technical.

“Lebanon remains one of the very secure countries, if we compare the local situation to the developments around us. We are still fine,” Charbel told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's defense office Francois Roux said that his current visit to Lebanon is a routine visit as he is keen to maintain the ties with authorities and the Beirut and Tripoli Bar Associations to remind all sides of the right of the defendants to have a fair trial, noting that the date of trials on March 25 could be changed.

He described the visit in comments published in An Nahar as “good and useful.”