Prime Minister Najib Miqati called on the Lebanese on Thursday to cooperate in order to safeguard the country and overcome all the obstacles facing it.

“The political rhetoric (in Lebanon) remains under the cap of democracy that we hold onto, as the country has always been able to overcome” the obstacles through the unity of its people, Miqati said during the opening ceremony of the Arab Economic Forum at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut.

Authorities are tracking down a Lebanese man who is allegedly playing a critical role in smuggling arms to the Syria opposition, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the daily, the Lebanese authorities informed the Syrian authorities about the preliminary investigations regarding the Lebanese navy’s interception of weapons aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Lutfallah II ship.

The cabinet session held at the Baabda Palace witnessed a heated debate between Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel over the controversial telecom data dispute.

Qortbawi lashed out at Charbel during Wednesday’s session for criticizing three judges at the judicial committee, which is tasked with assessing the possibility of providing the security forces with the telecom data, accusing them of not carrying out their full responsibilities.

The head of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Nasri Khoury relayed a message from the Syrian leadership that it is time for Syrian refugees in Lebanon to be returned to their country, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday.

He explained that calm has been restored to Syria after international monitors entered the country and the United Nations and Arab League ceasefire plan has been implemented.

Syrian troops crossed over into Lebanon Wednesday night and kidnapped a Lebanese citizen, reported the daily al-Mustaqbal on Thursday.

It said that Syrian border guards crossed the Kabir River near the town of al-Abboudiyeh in Akkar and abducted Mohammed Mahmoud Ibrahim.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Commander Maj.-Gen. Paolo Serra voiced his support to the wall that Israel is building along the Lebanese border.

“This project was designed to improve the security in the area and therefore, we cannot allow a de-conflicting project to become a source of conflict in one of the most sensitive areas,” Serra said on Wednesday after chairing a tripartite meeting with senior Lebanese and Israeli security officials at the U.N. headquarters at Ras al-Naqoura crossing.

The head of the parliamentary Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan held President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati responsible for the current “poor” situation regarding the government spending file.

He told As Safir newspaper in remarks published on Thursday: “Their failure to approve the $5.9 billion spending bill is aimed at vindicating previous governments at the expense of public funds and the constitution.”

Hizbullah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem on Wednesday stressed that former premier Saad Hariri was “not the sole representative” of the Sunni sect in Lebanon, noting that the May 7, 2008 events were “an armed clash between two parties.”

“We must work for the sake of Islamic unity and national unity,” Qassem said, stressing that “the disputes are not religious … but rather political, in which the religious slogan is being used for incitement due to their failure to propagate their (political) vision.”

Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday held talks in Riyadh with Saudi Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, after meeting in Doha on Monday with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.

The talks in Riyadh were attended by Prince Saud bin Nayef, the head of the crown prince’s office and his private advisor, and his secretary Abdul Rahman bin Ali al-Rubaian.

The cabinet on Wednesday postponed the discussion of the thorny issue of financial spending to a session that will be held next Wednesday over lack of consensus among the government’s components.

During the cabinet session at the Baabda Palace, President Michel Suleiman “reiterated his rejection of signing the L.L.8,900 billion decree, while some ministers insisted that he should sign it,” NBN television reported, noting that the rhetoric was “totally calm” during the session despite the disagreement.