The Army Intelligence freed Fouad Daoud, a Lebanese man abducted last week for ransom, following clashes with his kidnappers in Baalbek, the military said Wednesday.

“Following a close follow up and monitoring, the intelligence directorate identified the location of the kidnapped citizen, Fouad Daoud, in the area of Tall al-Abyad in Baalbek,” it said in a communique.

The Cabinet approved on Wednesday a 1.6-billion-dollar plan to properly equip the Lebanese army, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq said.

The payments will be made over a five-year period and the plan calls for providing the military institution with proper arms and equipment.

Thousands of Hizbullah supporters protested Wednesday in the southern city of Tyre against a U.S.-made film mocking Islam and cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.

"America, America, you are the great satan!" and "Israel is the enemy of the Muslims!" chanted protesters as they poured onto the streets of Tyre.

Security measures were bolstered outside the French embassy and near the ambassador's official residence on Wednesday over fears of a backlash after the publication in France of cartoons mocking the Prophet Mohammed.

Lebanese armored personnel carriers deployed near the mission and outside the Pine Residence in Beirut, where the ambassador resides.

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday called for Christians and Muslims to unite against violence, following a trip to Lebanon last week in which he condemned fundamentalism in any religion.

"I think the time has come... for us together to issue a determined rejection of violence and wars," the pope said at an audience in the Vatican.

Military Tribunal Judge Imad al-Zein kicked off on Wednesday investigations with detained members of the al-Meqdad clan members.

He interrogated and then issued arrest warrants five of the suspects.

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the anti-Islam film that mocks the Prophet Mohammed, saying its broadcast is aimed at placing Muslims in a “violent” confrontation with the West.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The real confrontation should not be directed against western people or governments, but with a handful of saboteurs seeking to tarnish the image of the Arab Spring and the promising future of the people of the region.”

Israel's army on Wednesday staged a surprise drill on the country's northern border, the military said, amid tensions over Iran's nuclear drive and the fate of Syria's chemical weapons.

The one-day exercise was ordered by army chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, a military statement said, "in order to examine the competence and preparedness of several units in the army, led by (the) artillery corps."

The Internal Security Forces and army resumed on Wednesday the destruction of cannabis fields in the town of Deir al-Ahmar in Baalbek as residents held a sit-in in protest.

The National News Agency said that the residents held a sit-in at the entrance of the town denouncing the ongoing operations.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani denied on Wednesday that his country banned granting visas to Lebanese Shiites over Hizbullah's stances from the revolt against Syrian president Bashar Assad.

“Our ties with Hizbullah are not bad, however, we have different points of view regarding the developments in Syria,” Sheikh Hamad said in remarks to the Kuwaiti al-Rai daily.