Syrian authorities on Thursday handed over to the General Directorate of General Security three suspects allegedly involved in the 2011 abduction of seven Estonian nationals in Lebanon.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim earlier on Thursday informed President Michel Suleiman that the suspects would be handed over shortly.

A request to release Salafist activist Shadi al-Mawlawi was referred on Thursday to the Military Court, with his lawyer expecting that a ruling would be issued Friday.

Military Investigative Judge Nabil Wehbi interrogated Mawlawi for around four hours, in the presence of his lawyer Mohammed Hafza who filed the release request.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday said he discussed with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri the possibility of calling the leaders of the national dialogue committee to a meeting under the chairmanship of President Michel Suleiman that would “at least discuss” the latest unrest in Tripoli.

Following a meeting in Ain al-Tineh, Berri said talks with Asiri also tackled “the need for the Lebanese to take a unified stance in order to find an urgent, effective and permanent solution to the situation in the North.”

Conflicting reports have emerged over the escape of seven Fatah al-Islam members from the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Thursday.

An informed security source from the South stated that leading member Toufic Taha is among them.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati chaired a security meeting at his residence in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday to follow up the on the latest developments in the city.

The premier demanded the security forces to set up checkposts in the city to restore security, to tighten security measures, and detain any gunmen.

President Michel Suleiman linked his approval to signing the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending with the cabinet’s approval of Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s proposal to allocate his ministry with $3.12 billion to cover some expenses of state institutions in 2012, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

A ministerial source told the daily that cabinet members failed to find consensus over Safadi’s proposal during Wednesday’s cabinet session at the Baabda Palace, prompting the postponement of the discussions until next week’s session.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s political aide Hussein Khalil stressed on Thursday that the strong sectarian rhetoric must end if officials want to find a radical solution for the local crises and security breaches.

“What is happening in the country is the result of the sectarian flaring… which has negative repercussions on the country’s stability and the civil peace,” Khalil said in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper.

Two people were killed on Thursday as sniper attacks resumed in the northern city of Tripoli, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

The dead include a child from the Zahra family, it added.

A prisoner exchange took place on Tuesday between the Jaafar clan and Syrian opposition members.

The opposition members handed over two Lebanese nationals, Khodr Husssein Khalil Jaafar and Abdullah al-Zein, who were kidnapped in the border town of Zeta, which is located inside Syrian territory.

The sides that are seeking to carry out assassinations in Lebanon are too powerful to be thwarted by the local authorities, revealed security circles to al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

They said that these groups “are backed by major intelligence agencies that have dedicated billions of dollars for them.”