President Michel Suleiman stated on Friday that Lebanon's economy and democratic system will protect it against challenges.

He added: “The Baabda Declaration and a defense strategy that places the resistance's arms at the will of the army will protect Lebanon against any Israeli assault.”

A delegation from MP Walid Jumblat's National Struggle Front held talks on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri on the efforts to reach an agreement over a new government and parliamentary electoral law.

Caretaker Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said after the meeting: “We must reach an agreement over a new government formula and electoral law otherwise all sides will pay the price of their actions.”

A Phalange Party delegation continued on Friday a tour on Lebanese rival groups to discuss the initiative proposed by the party to introduce a constitutional amendment, which calls for neutrality and dissociate the country from the conflicts surrounding it.

“We are trying to attain the largest support for our proposal,” Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel said after talks with the head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc, Fouad Saniora.

Nine people were charged on Friday with enlisting in an armed group to carry out terrorist attacks, said the National News Agency.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr charged two Lebanese people and seven Syrian and Palestinian nationals with enlisting in the armed group and committing crimes against people.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel warned on Friday against what he described as “a dangerous reality” facing the Christians in Syria and the region, and called on the international community to stop the bloodshed and stop oppression against the Christians, the state-run National News Agency quoted him as saying from Rome.

“I call on the international community to stop the bloodshed, protect emerging democracies, and halt the aggression against the Christians,” said Gemayel.

Vacancies emerged in the six-member Military Council with the retirement of three of its members, reported al-Akhbar newspaper Friday.

It reported that the development “may prompt Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji to request assuming its duties and responsibilities.”

Deputy Speaker MP Farid Makari noted that Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's recent speech reflects the party's ongoing efforts to obstruct the formation of a government, reported the daily An Nahar Friday.

He told the daily: “He shut the door on the negotiations to form a new cabinet through refusing to relinquish his camp's conditions.”

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam is seeking to form a cabinet that doesn't include the March 8 alliance, media reports said on Friday.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper, consultations with the March 8 coalition failed to reach any fruitful results as both sides are holding on to their stances.

Turkish Ambassador Inan Ozyildiz slammed on Friday the sit-ins held by the relatives of the nine abducted pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz since May last year.

The diplomat considered in comments published in An Nahar newspaper that the families of the abducted men “crossed the limits.”

Two men were killed and contact was lost with at least 18 others in the Syrian town of al-Qusayr near the border with Lebanon, LBCI television reported on Thursday.

"The men who hail from the northern cities of Tripoli and Dinniyeh have left Lebanon to participate in the battles in al-Qusayr's countryside”, sources close to the Syrian opposition told LBCI.