Energy Minister Jebran Bassil stated on Thursday that al-Qaida has infiltrated Lebanon under the guise of various groups, such as Fatah al-Islam and Jund al-Sham.

He said during a press conference: “The president and prime minister know this, as does the March 14 camp and some of its members even sympathize and assist these groups.”

President Michel Suleiman lauded on Thursday the government’s performance so far, despite the criticism it has come under.

He hoped that it would “make the appointments of top civil servants in gradual steps and not in one single haul.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Thursday the important role the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has played in maintaining the security and stability of southern Lebanon.

He said after holding talks with UNIFIL Commander Major General Alberto Asarta at the Grand Serail: “The international troops’ mission will be complete when the Lebanese army assumes full responsibility of the security of the South.”

Two masked gunmen robbed Byblos Bank’s Shouaifat branch and fled, the National News Agency reported Thursday.

NNA said the thieves were riding a silver-colored BMW X5 with tinted windows.

A private school in a coastal town in the Shouf district was evacuated on Thursday after an SMS bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax.

Security forces searched La Cite Nationale School in Barja, south of Beirut, after the principal said a secretary received an SMS warning about a bomb.

Speaker Nabih Berri and Energy Minister Jebran Bassil expressed relief on Thursday after the cabinet approved the oil exploration decrees, according to As Safir newspaper.

“Congratulations to Lebanon… We’ve reached the stage of implementing the work, and we should exert efforts to compensate for lost time,” Berri told the daily.

The recent claims about the presence of al-Qaida in Lebanon have pushed U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to stir the issue of the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border with top Lebanese officials next week, informed sources said Thursday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s allegations that al-Qaida was operating in the eastern town of Arsal and the contradictory statements made by officials later on, have forced Ban to discuss with the Lebanese officials about a request to demarcate the border in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolution 1680.

The army detonated a bomb that was found in the parking lot of a building in the southern city of Sidon on Wednesday night.

A citizen informed the security forces of a suspected device found around 11:00 pm in the parking lot of Hijazi Center in Sidon's Quds Square. The parking space lies near the building where Sheikh Maher Hammoud resides.

A top U.S. counterterrorism official has admitted that there are “sympathetic groups to al-Qaida in Lebanon” but refused to comment on allegations made by the Lebanese defense minister about the operations of militants in the eastern border town of Arsal.

“We’ve seen the reports, and I don’t have any further comment on them,” said Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State, in a special briefing on Wednesday.

The cabinet on Wednesday approved the executive decrees for the law on oil excavation in Lebanon’s territorial waters.

The parliament endorsed the bill in August 2011.