Internal Security Forces chief Major-General Ashraf Rifi threatened to resign should Intelligence Bureau director Wissam al-Hassan be transferred from his post.

Ad-Diyar newspaper reported on Friday that he “refuses to sign a memo to transfer Colonel Wissam al-Hassan.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Friday that the seven Estonians were not held hostage at the Taybeh village following their kidnapping in March, but they were released there.

He told Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio station that the Lebanese will “be informed about the details of the release operation later on… for the safety of the investigation.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly bought a 20,000-square-meter land parcel near the Safa stadium in Beirut for 10 million dollars.

Al-Akhbar daily said Friday that Jumblat is negotiating with the owners of shacks on the land to vacate their homes in return for financial compensation.

A clash erupted overnight between a number of youth from the town of Naameh and others from Harat al-Naameh which inflicted several injuries.

Media reports said that the argument developed into an exchange of gunfire and smashing of shops windows.

The Estonian government paid the kidnappers of the seven Estonian tourists 10 million euros to win their release, media reports said Friday.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said Thursday that no force was used to free the hostages and that several countries and their respective intelligence services were involved in the operation.

Mystery shrouded the release of the kidnapped Estonians after high-ranking sources hinted of Syria’s involvement in setting free the seven cyclists as a good gesture to the European Union.

A high-ranking security source did not rule out that Syria helped release the hostages on Thursday after it was embarrassed by attacks by pro-regime supporters on the French and U.S. embassies in Damascus earlier in the week.

The cabinet on Thursday renewed the mandate of Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh and appointed Maj. Gen. Walid Salman as the new Army Chief of Staff, after the retirement of Maj. Gen. Shawqi al-Masri.

Dr. Antoine Shoqair was also appointed as the director general of the Presidency of the Republic.

Several southern towns in the Nabatiyeh, al-Zahrani and Tyre areas witnessed in the last few days an influx of more than 25 Syrian families fleeing the unrest in their country, Central News Agency reported Thursday.

Municipal sources in the South told the agency that some of the families were accommodated in shops due to overpopulation in the area during this time of year, while others had to reside in houses that are still under construction due to their inability to pay the rent of residential houses.

The relatives of seven Estonian tourists whose four-month kidnap ordeal in Lebanon ended Thursday hailed their release, while officials thanked France and other allies for helping win their freedom.

"Our father, sons, husbands and brothers are free! These four months were long and exhausting," the men's relatives said in a joint statement.

A number of residents of the Byblos District town of Lasa on Thursday attacked a delegation from the Maronite League which was surveying lands owned by the Maronite Patriarchate in the town, Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5) reported.

Army troops intervened to end the attack on the delegation, which was accompanied by a Maronite priest and a number of the area’s residents, the radio station said.