Saudi Arabia strongly condemned on Wednesday the "sinful and abhorrent" attempt to assassinate its ambassador to Washington, a day after the United States claimed Iran was behind the plot, SPA state news agency reported, quoting an unnamed official.

"The Kingdom strongly condemns the sinful and abhorrent attempt to assassinate the (Saudi) envoy... to the United States," SPA said, quoting the official.

U.S. President Barack Obama granted Lebanon a waiver to allow the continuation of U.S. assistance to Lebanon, which was at risk of being blocked due to Lebanon’s Tier Three ranking in the 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report, said the U.S. Embassy in a statement on Tuesday.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly informed Prime Minister Najib Miqati of Obama’s decision on October 4.

A prominent Lebanese-American businessman, who says he spent two years as an "economic hostage" in Qatar, has left the Persian Gulf nation and expects to return this week to his family in the United States.

Forty-seven-year-old Nasser Beydoun joined a Qatari investment group in 2007 to become chief executive officer of the Wataniya Restaurants chain.

A number of Lebanese citizens living in the North demanded the Lebanese and Arab governments Friday to withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus in a protest against the repression of demonstrations which had started in the Middle of last March.

According to National News Agency, a number of people from the North took part in a march in Tripoli “in solidarity with the Syrian people at an invitation from the Secular Gathering in Lebanon amidst strict security measures taken by the army and internal security forces.”

The Syrian National Council, which is trying to unite opponents to the regime of President Bashar Assad, was holding negotiations behind closed doors in Istanbul on Saturday.

Several opposition movements are trying to reach an alliance, a member of the SNC Halit Hoca told Agence France Presse.

Twenty-seven people have been killed on Friday at the hands of Syrian security forces during anti-regime demonstrations that took place in various Syrian cities, according to activists.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission said that 27 people were killed and tens were wounded in the crackdown against protestors.

Syrian forces killed fourteen civilians and unidentified attackers assassinated the nuclear engineer Aws Abdel Karim Khalil in the Syrian city of Homs, 160 kilometers north of Damascus on Wednesday.

The “2011 Syrian Revolution against Bashar Assad” Facebook page disclosed 12 of the civilians’ names. The names are: Al-Mounjid Bachir Mansour, a person from Al Rozz, Lieutenant Ahmad Khalaf, the recruit Mohammad Hasyan, Abdul Menhem Bahbuh, Moussa al-Zuluk, Zuheir Traboulsi, Jamal Sifo, Mahmud Hilal, Moussa Abdul Hadi al-Danaf, Sharif Moussa, and Fayez Salam.

Hizbullah is preparing for a meeting between its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, reported MTV on Tuesday.

It said that the visit would be aimed at repaying the patriarch for his recent stands and tour of southern Lebanon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi revealed on Tuesday that he had requested from France that the excuses for Hizbullah to maintain its possession of arms be eliminated.

He said during the Dar al-Fatwa spiritual summit: “We requested French assistance in eliminating its excuses to keep its weapons and help in strengthening the Lebanese army because only then can we say that the party no longer needs its arms.”

The United States considers the ongoing popular protests in Syria and a number of Arab countries as “a reflection of the ambitions of these countries’ peoples, their aspiration for freedom and democracy, and their adherence to all of their political and civil rights,” a western diplomatic source stressed.

In an interview with Naharnet, the source noted that “the U.S. administration believes it is Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s right to express the concerns and aspirations of his community during this period.