President Michel Suleiman criticized on Friday the labeling of constitutional institutions with sectarian descriptions, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He said, according to his visitors: “I will not take sides in any sectarian dispute in Lebanon.”

A Syrian farmer was killed on Friday when a landmine exploded as he was driving his truck across an illegal border crossing into Lebanon, a medical source said.

"The man was transferred to a hospital in Akkar in critical condition and he died shortly thereafter of his wounds," the source said, referring to a district in northern Lebanon where several wounded refugees have received medical care.

The United States on Friday handed its last prisoner in Iraq, a Hizbullah operative accused of plotting the killing of five U.S. soldiers, to Iraqi authorities, sparking a political furor in Washington.

A complicated legal drama surrounded the fate of Ali Mousa Daqdouq, who confessed to training Iraqi extremists in Iran, as U.S. troops end their mission and prepare to finally leave Iraq by the end of the month.

A member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s AMAL Movement was wounded on Friday when a personal dispute erupted into gunfire in the Beirut district of Zaidaniyeh.

“One AMAL member was wounded in the Zaidaniyeh clash and AMAL gunmen have left the area after a brief deployment,” an AMAL official told Naharnet, requesting anonymity.

More than 4,500 Syrians fleeing a deadly crackdown on a revolt against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have found shelter in Lebanon, with hundreds crossing the border in the last two weeks, the United Nations said Friday.

A report released by the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) said 4,510 Syrians, including women and children, had registered in northern Lebanon, up from 3,798 at the beginning of December.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi met Friday in Bkirki with Hizbullah politburo member Ghaleb Abu Zainab, who passed on Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s season’s greetings to the patriarch, state-run National News Agency reported.

The agency did not elaborate on the topics discussed during the meeting.

The Maronite leaders were unanimous on Friday in agreeing on the Orthodox meeting proposals regarding the parliamentary electoral law, while stressing the need to hold dialogue with the rest of the Lebanese factions on the matter.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi headed the meeting at Bkirki between Phalange Party chief Amin Gemayel, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, the head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea, and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Franjieh.

Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem condemned the attack against the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on December 9, slamming the March 14 camp and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe’s accusations that the party was behind the assault.

He said: “We have decided to file a lawsuit against those who made such accusations against us.”

The Shura Council approved on Friday the cabinet’s controversial decision on wage hike that caused a series of protests amongst politicians, citizens and Syndicates.

The Council conditioned some modifications to the decision without interfering with the amount of increase on brackets.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati is expected to head to Paris in January to meet with senior French officials including President Nicolas Sarkozy, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Friday.

According to the daily, he will discuss two issues during his stay in France, the first is related to the economy while the second is aimed at stressing the importance of the foreign support granted to the Lebanese army.