Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied accusations that he is arming certain groups in his hometown of Tripoli, saying he provides the northern city’s residents with education and projects.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Friday, Miqati said: “These remarks are totally rejected.”

Israeli officials are concerned that Hizbullah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles – the most advanced missile in its arsenal – to Hizbullah already in 2010 but they have been stored in bases in Syria, it said.

Preparations for Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Lebanon in September are going ahead despite the escalating conflict in neighboring Syria, the Vatican said on Thursday.

"There is no uncertainty about the preparations," Benedict's spokesman Federico Lombardi said at a press conference. "The Holy See is doing everything to make sure the trip takes place as planned" on September 14-16.

U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Kelly Clements welcomed on Thursday the work of Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council in assisting those in need, announced the U.S. Embassy in a statement.

She urged “the Lebanese government to continue to work closely with the international community to address the humanitarian needs and to ensure the safety of displaced Syrians in Lebanon”.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati received on Thursday a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, voicing her support to the “steps taken by the government and the efforts of the Lebanese army,” the PM’s Office said in a statement.

Clinton praised the “cooperation between Banque Du Liban and the U.S. Treasury”, the statement added, pointing out that discussion also tackled the Lebanese and regional developments.

The parents of a 3-month-old baby girl were arrested by security forces on Friday after her battered body was brought to a hospital in Beirut, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour said.

There were clear indications on Farah Mahmoud Abdulrazzak Hawana’s body that she was severely beaten, Abou Faour told Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3).

The joint parliamentary committees approved on Thursday the employment of qualified candidates who are currently contract workers at Electricite du Liban.

The decision led to loud cheers among the workers who had been asking for their rights by road closures and by blocking the entry of full-time employees to the premises of the EDL in Beirut’s Mar Mikhael area.

UNDP Resident Representative in Lebanon Robert Watkins stressed on Thursday on the importance of demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border, voicing the U.N.’s commitment to assisting the Lebanese authorities in addressing the humanitarian needs of the Syrian refugees.

“We would welcome a decision that would permit the High Relief Commission to operate throughout Lebanon to ensure a more efficient and coordinated response to the needs of the Lebanese and displaced population,” Watkins said during a visit to the eastern border town of Arsal in the Bekaa.

Gunmen robbed a bank in al-Damour region on Thursday morning, succeeding in escaping with an undisclosed sum of money, reported the National News Agency.

The four masked gunmen, riding a grey B.M.W. X5 with tinted windows, broke into Federal Bank of Lebanon in al-Damour and robbed it through the force of arms.

A Special Tribunal for Lebanon Trial Chamber hearing opened for the second day on Thursday as the legal representative of victims in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination called for redress and justice.

The victims “seek the truth, expiation, redress and justice and they have applied to this tribunal to give effect to the rights which nobody seriously challenges that they have,” said Peter Haynes.