Hizbullah denied on Thursday U.S. allegations of involvement in a $300 million laundering scheme and drugs trafficking, saying they are aimed at targeting the resistance and tarnishing its image.

“Hizbullah categorically denies the false accusations of its involvement directly or indirectly in money laundering or drug trafficking or banking transactions as claimed by the New York Times,” the party said in a statement.

The Free Patriotic Movement, Hizbullah and Amal dealt a blow to Premier Najib Miqati on Wednesday after they voted in favor of a wage boost decree proposed by Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas hours after the Economic Committees and the General Labor Confederation agreed with minor changes on a previous proposal made by the PM.

Fifteen ministers voted in favor of Nahhas’ wage hike decree while 11 voted against it. Minister Wael Abou Faour abstained from voting while Ministers Salim Karam, Faisal Karami and Nazem al-Khoury did not attend the session that was held at Baabda palace.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said that the approval of the majority of cabinet members on Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ wage proposal was “a democratic expression,” but stressed it was a “political” stance aimed at showing support to a “political ally.”

“No one won and no one lost. I respect democracy and we’ll see how this decision will be applied,” Miqati told An Nahar daily on Thursday.

The Permanent Military Court on Wednesday sentenced Charbel Qazzi, the head of the maintenance department at the state-owned mobile phone firm Alfa, to seven years hard labor on charges of collaborating with Israel, state-run National News Agency reported.

Qazzi was arrested in June 2010 and charged with passing on information to Israeli spies that aided the Jewish state in its 2006 war against Hizbullah.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea welcomed on Wednesday Beirut lawmakers’ calls for the establishment of an arms-free capital, noting that Lebanon would be living in “very flawed” circumstances if such a goal is not achieved.

He told Free Lebanon radio: “The whole of Lebanon, not just Beirut, should be stripped of weapons and armed groups.”

President Michel Suleiman discussed on Wednesday with lawmakers representing Beirut their project to establish an arms-free capital, according to the National News Agency.

They tackled the security situation in Beirut and the MPs’ project to remove “illegal arms” from the capital in order to fortify civil peace.

A Syria correspondent for Lebanese daily As Safir, considered supportive of Bashar Assad's regime was detained in Damascus, an editor at the newspaper told Agence France Presse on Wednesday.

"We lost contact with our correspondent Ahmed Dahnoun yesterday (Tuesday) during a protest at Midan Square in the Syrian capital," the editor said, requesting anonymity.

The mayors and the municipal council of the town of Arsal slammed on Wednesday the statement of Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn, who warned that al-Qaida members have entered the country through the town.

This information “should motivate (the authorities) to deploy the Lebanese army along the border with Syria to halt the continuous Syrian violations of Lebanese sovereignty,” they said in a statement.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Wednesday the need for the whole of Lebanon to come under the control of the state and army.

He said: “No one in Lebanon can eliminate the other and we are all Lebanese and bound to work together.”

Three security officers were injured on Tuesday night when residents near the Palestinian refugee camp of Sabra in Beirut pelted them with stones while they were seeking to curb the construction of an illegal building.

The National News Agency said Wednesday that an Internal Security Forces patrol was seeking to end the violation with the help of the Army when scores of young men and women pelted them with stones.