Lebanon's Constitutional Council “should consider and rule on the challenges before it without political interference,” the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon said on Wednesday, after lack of quorum prevented for a second day in a row a ruling by the council on petitions filed against the extension of parliament's mandate.

“Boycott of Constitutional Council further erodes Lebanon’s democracy and reflects lack of respect for Lebanon’s institutions and the rule of law,” the embassy said on Twitter.

The March 14 general-secretariat slammed the security forces and the Lebanese army on Wednesday for failing to stop the murder of a protester near the Iranian embassy in Beirut over the weekend.

“The crime against Hashem Salman was committed under the gaze of security forces and the army, which did not interfere to stop it,” said a statement read by MP Ammar Houri after the general-secretariat's weekly meeting.

The army announced that it will immediately respond to any further cross-border attacks by the Syrian military after a helicopter gunship attacked on Wednesday.

"Army units deployed in the (Arsal) area took the necessary defensive measures to respond immediately to any similar violations," an army statement said, in a rare warning against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied on Wednesday that Lebanon hasn't been adopting the policy of dissociation from the Syrian crisis.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (100.5), Mansour said: “The Lebanese state rejects the intervention in Syria from any side and has never contradicted the dissociation policy.”

France on Wednesday urged the international community to stop the progression of Syrian troops, backed by Hizbullah fighters and Iran, towards the strategic northern town of Aleppo.

After winning a strategic victory by retaking Qusayr, an important town near the border with Lebanon, Syrian troops are now focusing their attention on Aleppo as they continue to gain ground against the rebels.

Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin considered on Wednesday that the Baabda declaration is the basis of the Lebanese state, hailing the efforts exerted by the authorities and the army to prevent strife in the country.

“Russia is committed to stability and security in Lebanon,” Zasypkin said marking the National Day Russia at Coral Beach Hotel.

Several Kuwaiti supermarket chains have begun boycotting products from Iran for its support of the Syrian regime and to protest Hizbullah's intervention in the war engulfing the neighboring country Syria.

At least nine cooperative consumer societies out of 50 in the oil-rich Gulf state published announcements in the local media on Wednesday saying they have taken Iranian products off their shelves in protest at Tehran's backing of President Bashar Assad and Hizbullah.

Three judges boycotted a meeting of the Constitutional Council for the second day in a row on Wednesday, depriving the 10-member body of the quorum needed to rule on petitions filed against the extension of parliament's mandate.

Despite the boycott, the present members agreed to hold open-ended meetings starting Tuesday to rule on the challenges against the legislature's 17-month extension.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed Hizbullah's involvement in the war raging in the neighboring country Syria, saying that the party exposed itself by proving that it doesn't care about the national interest.

“Hizbullah revealed that it's not a Lebanese party but a regional power that is taking party in a big scheme... The party doesn't take into consideration the nation's best interest,” Geagea told reporters in Meraab.

President Michel Suleiman is expected to launch an initiative to find ways to confront a decision by Gulf Cooperation Council countries to take measures against Hizbullah's military intervention in Syria, Baabda palace sources said Wednesday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that the initiative comes in the presence of a caretaking cabinet and the absence of the new government that Premier-designate Tammam Salam is seeking to form.