Head of Independence Movement Michel Mouawad stressed on Friday that the March 14 alliance will not participate in the national dialogue session “at a time when the killing machine is still active in Lebanon”.

In a speech he gave during a ceremony marking the 23rd anniversary of his father President Rene Mouawad's assassination, the northern leader said he values President Michel Suleiman's efforts to reconciliate the disputing parties in the country, but they (March 14) “will not yield to hegemony”.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Friday that the 2013 parliamentary elections will be held on time, refuting all rumors and statements suggesting the contrary.

After meeting Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara al-Rahi in Bkerki, Miqati rejected any isolation or boycotting of communication between the rival parties, saying that all “sides should stand united especially given the very difficult regional situation”.

At least 17 Lebanese Islamists were killed in Syria on Friday as they were infiltrating the country, reported various media outlets.

Agence France Presse said that 17 Lebanese Sunni fighters were killed in Syria's Tal Kalakh border area in an ambush carried out by regime forces.

March 14 General-Secretariat congratulated on Friday Palestine on acquiring the status of a “non-member observer state” at the United Nations, calling this step a “historic victory conforming to the events of the Arab spring”.

"This proved that historical achievements can be reached through the cooperation of the legitimate authority in Palestine along with Arabic and international authorities,” the March 14 statement said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea renewed on Friday his rejection of the resumption of the national dialogue, hailing President Michel Suleiman's ongoing consultations with various political powers.

He said during a press conference: “We urge Suleiman to maintain his bilateral consultations as a substitute for dialogue.”

Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said Friday following talks with Free Patriotic Movement chief Michel Aoun at the head of a Progressive Socialist Party delegation that the two sides agreed on the need to revive dialogue.

“We agreed on several issues mainly on the need to revive dialogue,” said Aridi from Aoun's residence in Rabieh.

An unknown assailant tossed a hand grenade at a gas station in Beirut's southern suburbs, causing material damage only, the state-run National News Agency reported on Friday.

No casualties were reported in the incident that took place after midnight Thursday.

Two Lebanese soldiers were killed at dawn Friday in a car crash in the eastern Bekaa valley while another man sustained injuries in an accident on the Beirut airport road.

The victims were identified as Elias Nakhle, 19, from the West Bekaa town of Aana and 18-year-old Charbel Abou Aanneh from Dakweh-Aamiq village.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Friday he would propose an electoral draft-law that combines suggestions made by several parties in parliament if the assembly failed to approve the bill referred to it by the government.

In remarks to al-Liwaa daily, Charbel said he was waiting for the fate of the cabinet's bill to propose his own version of an electoral draft-law that is based on holding the elections on two stages.

Several March 14 coalition MPs warned Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday against a call for a meeting of joint parliamentary committees to discuss an electoral draft-law, saying such a move would be a “dangerous precedent” in the absence of the opposition.

Following a meeting held by opposition heads of parliamentary committees, rapporteurs and members of parliament's bureau at MP Butros Harb's residence, a statement said that the boycott of March 14 MPs of all parliamentary activity “was forced by the government over its own failure in governing the country.”