Prime Minister Najib Miqati defended on Wednesday the Lebanese government’s disassociation policy, saying that it has enjoyed local and international support.

“The government’s adoption of another policy would have harmed Lebanon’s stability and security.”

Lebanese citizen Louay Mansour, 23, has been missing since last week in Syria, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In the Tyre District town of Maaroub, Louay’s father, Mohammed, told NNA that his son went missing while on his way to his family’s home in the Syrian capital Damascus.

A source in the general directorate of the Internal Security Forces denied that former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed accompanied ex-minister Michel Samaha to Syria to allegedly smuggle explosives to Lebanon.

In remarks to al-Akhbar daily published on Wednesday, the source said MTV station’s report “is not true and the interrogation of Samaha and his bodyguards did not reveal any such thing.”

Al-Meqdad family announced on Wednesday that its military wing has so far kidnapped more than 20 Free Syrian Army members in Lebanon, as well as a Turkish national, promising a “hefty catch.”

The military wing told LBCI television: “We may take escalatory measures depending on the latest developments.”

The key witness in the case of ex-Minister Michel Samaha, Milad Kfouri, can’t be summoned by the judge to give his testimony, security sources said on Wednesday.

“The witness is under the Internal Security Forces protection, that vowed to safeguard him along with his family,” the source said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said he would attend a national dialogue session set to be held on Thursday even if the March 14 opposition coalition decides to boycott the all-party talks.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Wednesday, Jumblat said: “I hail the president on the questions he asked as to how we could benefit from the arsenal of the resistance to defend Lebanon through a Lebanese defense strategy.”

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who is scheduled to arrive in Beirut on Thursday, is expected to tackle the Syrian violations along the Lebanese border.

A French diplomatic source informed As Safir newspaper on Wednesday that Fabius will inform Lebanese officials that the United Nations Security Council members reject to expand the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Security forces are trying to verify unconfirmed reports that former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed was in the car with former minister Michel Samaha during the smuggling of the explosives from Syria to Lebanon, MTV quoted a security source as saying on Tuesday.

The source noted that “orders were given to let Samaha's car cross the border without any inspection.”

President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday stressed that Lebanon can confront the repercussions of the turmoil in the region, but warned of the domestic threats.

“The outer storm around us can be warded off, but the threat comes from the little despicable storms inside the country,” the president said during a tour of the Jbeil region.

The Mustaqbal bloc noted on Tuesday that former minister Michel Samaha’s arrest uncovers to the entire world the Syrian regime’s “criminal intentions” towards Lebanon.

It therefore demanded after its weekly meeting “the suspension of the security agreement between Lebanon and Syria.”