The increase in fighting in Syria and related clashes in Lebanon are hampering the work of the U.N. refugee agency as the number of those fleeing the violence reaches record levels.

"The deteriorating security situation in Lebanon is hampering our work to help refugees fleeing Syria's conflict, though operations are continuing," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Adrian Edwards said in Geneva Friday.

A Lebanese national from the Sabra family was kidnapped in the Bekaa town of Ferzol on Friday.

The National News Agency said that unknown assailants kidnapped Mohammed Hassan Sabra from the vegetable market in Ferzol.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari called on Speaker Nabih Berri to return a request filed by Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity, considering that it violates the constitution.

“I hope that Berri would act upon his typical wisdom and returns the request as failing to approve it at the joint meeting between the parliament’s bureau and the administrative committee would be exploited by some officials to create strife” in the country, Makari said in a statement issued by his press office.

Education Minister Hassan Diab vowed on Friday to take into consideration the “exceptional circumstances” for the Grade 12 students in Tripoli who weren’t able to sit for the second round of the official exams.

“The students who weren’t able to reach the exams centers will re-sit for the exams later on,” Diab told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour revealed on Friday that his ministry finished a detailed report over the Exclusive Economic Zone and referred it a month ago to the cabinet’s general secretariat.

He wondered in comments published in As Safir newspaper why the issue wasn’t set for discussion on the cabinet’s agenda.

Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that he will study an official request to strip MP Moeen al-Merehbi of his parliamentary immunity as the March 14 opposition alliance lashed out at Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi threatening to resort to article 39 of constitution.

“I will study the matter before sending the request to the parliament's bureau and the administrative committee,” Berri told An Nahar newspaper on Friday.

A Sunni sheikh and three others were killed during clashes in the northern city of Tripoli as intermittent gunbattles rocked the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen on Friday for a fifth straight day.

Sheikh Khaled al-Baradei, 28, was killed from sniper fire when fierce fighting broke out at dawn between the residents of Qobbeh district and Jabal Mohsen despite an agreement reached on Thursday to give the army the green light to restore order in Tripoli.

Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Najib Miqati stressed on Friday that their ties remain strong despite their differences on the government’s performance.

“There is no personal problem with Miqati. Our relations are good,” Berri told As Safir newspaper.

A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the convictions and sentences of three men, including a Lebanese, found guilty in Ohio of recruiting and training terrorists to kill U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati turned down 10 issues on appeal in the Toledo case involving Mohammad Amawi, Marwan el-Hindi and Wassim Mazloum.

A meeting held Thursday at Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s residence in Tripoli urged the army to restore security in the areas of the clashes “by all means necessary,” stressing that “the jeopardizing of civil peace in Tripoli and entire Lebanon will not be tolerated.”

The conferees “discussed the means to find a radical solution to this dilemma that has become a threat to civil peace in Tripoli and across Lebanon,” said a statement released by Miqati’s office.