The United States condemned on Thursday the abduction of Lebanese men in the Syrian province of Aleppo, saying the abduction of people along sectarian lines is unacceptable.

“We condemn the kidnapping of Lebanese citizens in Aleppo and call for their immediate release,” the U.S. embassy in Lebanon said on its twitter feed.

The United States urged Lebanese political parties on Wednesday to exercise restraint following deadly fighting between pro- and anti-Syrian groups.

“We call on all political actors in Lebanon to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s security and to respect the rule of law,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

One of the suspects arrested in the Caracas shooting in Beirut on Wednesday is a Jordanian national who is linked to an organization linked to the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, reported al-Manar television on Thursday.

It said that Hani al-Shanti is accused of belonging to the “Group of 13” organization that confessed to assassinating the former premier on February 14, 2005.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Thursday that contacts are ongoing to release Lebanese men kidnapped in the Syrian province of Aleppo.

“The President, Speaker and Prime Minister are following up the incident with the competent authorities, but it needs time,” Mansour told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

A request by Free Patriotic Movement cabinet ministers to task the army with controlling the security in the North and put the Internal Security Forces under its command was rejected by ministers loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, media reports said Thursday.

Several Beirut dailies quoted sources as saying that the FPM ministers called during the session held at Baabda palace for the implementation of article four of the defense law similar to the measures taken in the eastern Bekaa valley to strike with an iron fist any attempt to tamper with the security of the northern province of Akkar.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said on Thursday that Lebanese officials should resume the national dialogue and tackle all the lingering crises in Lebanon without any “exception.”

He told An Nahar newspaper that Saudi King Abdullah’s letter to President Michel Suleiman expresses his fear over the repercussions of the Syrian developments on Lebanon as the crisis in the neighboring country might spill over into Lebanon.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly expressed on Wednesday the United States’ appreciation for the efforts of the Internal Security Forces and Lebanese army to work together to maintain calm in Lebanon.

She emphasized after holding talks with ISF chief General Ashraf Rifi her country’s “concern for the current security situation in Lebanon and called on all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s security and stability.”

A dispute broke out on Wednesday between Phalange Party and Hizbullah students at Saint Joseph University in Beirut’s Monot district.

The dispute, whose causes remain unknown, soon developed into a fistfight.

A bomb scare was reported at the Beirut international airport on Wednesday after a traveler left his luggage in the facility.

Airport security inspected the luggage, which was left at a ticketing window, and found that it only contained personal belongings.

A roadside bomb exploded near a bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in a Sunni area of western Iraq on Wednesday, killing three and wounding 10 others, Iraqi police and medical sources said.

"A roadside bomb exploded in the Khamsat Kilo area as a bus carrying Lebanese pilgrims... passed on the highway, killing three of them and wounding 10," a first lieutenant in the Anbar provincial police said, referring to an area west of the provincial capital Ramadi.