An explosive device was found on Friday near a liquor store in southern Lebanon, reported the Central News Agency.

It said that the bomb, located in the town of Qaaqaiyat al-Jisr, was not prepared to be detonated.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel warned on Friday of forces in the Arab world that may seek to impose new dictatorships in the region.

He noted the existence of “dormant dictator cells” in the Arab world that are being protected by totalitarian regimes.

An arrest warrant was issued on Friday against a Major on charges of smuggling weapons to Syria, reported al-Manar television.

It said that the charges were made against Major Wissam Abdul Khaliq and that it remains unclear if he is a member of the army or any other security agency.

Tensions were high in the hometown of slain Sunni Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed in light of the release of three officers linked to the cleric's death in May.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled al-Daher slammed the decision to release the officers, deeming its a “suspicious decision aimed at creating tensions in Lebanon ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon.”

The seventh periodic meeting for the northern city of Tripoli was held on Friday at the residence of MP Mohammed Kabbara.

The gatherers expressed relief with the stable situation in the city and hailed the measures taken by the security forces in the area.

Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad lashed out at the March 14 alliance over its memorandum over the Syrian violations, accusing the coalition of covering up its participation in the aggression against Syria.

“The March 14 memo is incitement against Damascus and directly targets it,” Raad said in a press conference at the parliament.

Three Lebanese Army officers, who were arrested over the shooting on Sunni Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and his companion in the northern district of Akkar in May, were released on bail.

The National News Agency said Friday the Military Court of Cassation's head, Judge Elias Nayfeh, ordered the release of the officers on LL300,000 bail each.

Military Examining Magistrate Judge Riyad Abu Ghida will resume on Tuesday the questioning in the case of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported.

Sources close to the defense attorneys told the daily that a meeting was held with Abu Ghida in the past few days to request the questioning of “the secret informer,” Milad Kfouri, as soon as possible.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee rejected on Friday the government's proposal that the new wage scale be payed in installments over a five-year period.

It instead demanded that the wages be made in one full installment and that the government approve the format that was agreed upon with the committee.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is scheduled to visit the northern city of Tripoli on the first week of November, Tripoli Mufti Sheikh Malek al-Shaar said.

Al-Shaar said that he held talks with al-Rahi in Diman on Wednesday.