Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Saturday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.

Al-Joumhouria

Syrian-Lebanese military meeting in the north takes steps to secure border

Aoun, Franjieh and Arsalan meet in Rabieh

It is unclear yet what the consequences of the plot against the Saudi ambassador to the United States will have on relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as Arab-Iran relations in general. While Washington is trying to bring this issue up at the United Nations Security Council, an Arab League meeting will be held Sunday to discuss unrest in Syria. There were more 20 fatalities during protests in Syria Friday and the United Nations warned that Syria could be headed for a civil war and said more that 3,000 people had been killed in the country since the start of protests.

In light of the recent developments, meetings among the majority coalition were held. The head of the Change and Reform block MP Michel Aoun met in Rabieh Friday with the head of the Marada movement, Suleiman Franjieh, and MP Talal Arsalan. This meeting came amid news that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah met with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt.

At the security level, a meeting by the joint military council between Syria and Lebanon was held in the north to look into border-related issues where participants agreed to coordinate efforts to prevent acts of smuggling and illegal crossings from both sides.

Meanwhile, Syria’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali issued a complaint to Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour about allegations that the Syrian Embassy was involved in kidnapping Syrian opposition members in Lebanon.

Al-Anwar

Private schools across Lebanon: [We] reject Cabinet’s decision to increase wages

Jumblatt backs funding Special Tribunal [for Lebanon]

The impact of the decision by the Cabinet to increase wages has yet to subside and has thrown the government and the productive sectors with it into a tough situation with as yet no exit in sight.

The Private Schools Union has repeated its rejection to the increase in wages, warning that this will lead to an increase in tuition fees that will place further burdens on parents.

Amid the contradictions, MP Walid Jumblatt said that the decision to increase wages had not been properly studied. “There were legitimate demands but the issue of where the funding for this would come from was not looked into,” Jumblatt said.

Jumblatt had met a day earlier with Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah before an interview with Al-Manar television stations. During the interview, Jumblatt said he was “remaining in the majority ... When I wish to change I will say so.”

On the issue of funding the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Jumblatt said: “It is best that there be a compromise about funding the Special Tribunal ... We will vote for [funding] in Cabinet if we have to vote on the issue and there is an absence of a settlement.”

Ad-Diyar

Large quantities of ammunition and weapons smuggled from Akkar into Syria

Ad-Diyar has learned that weapons are being smuggled into Syria in large quantities. The smuggling is taking place from the north, Hermel and Baalbek and is destined to Homs and other parts of Syria. The paper has learned that the price of a Kalashnikov has risen from $200 to $1,500 and that millions of rounds have been smuggled by night into Syria across the Nahr al-Kabir river in the north and from al-Qaa and Hermel that border Syria. It can be said that if smuggling weapons from Iraq into Syria is difficult because of the Maliki government that is allied to Iran, then the Sunnis in north Lebanon and a number of Shiite merchants in the Bekaa are smuggling large quantities of weapons into Syria. Some reports even indicate that thousands of rifles have crossed the border from Lebanon into Syria.

An-Nahar

File in front of the military judge on the kidnapping of the Syrians

Jumblatt: I’m not a [clone], I have an opinion about what’s happening

Next week will see two important ministerial meetings: This first is due to be held Tuesday at Baabda Palace to discuss the general budget, including the issue of funding for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. And the second one, Wednesday, will take place at the Grand Serail and will be a general session.

Friday, the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, spoke out against head of the Internal Security Forces Mag. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, responding to allegations of playing a role in kidnappings of Syrian opposition members in Lebanon. This includes the case of 86-year-old Baath defector Shibli Al-Aisami, who disappeared in May in Aley.

The ambassador says there is no proof of this.

Kataeb MP Sami Jamayal told An-Nahar that he has urged that the Lebanese authorities look into the matter immediately, adding that diplomatic immunity shouldn’t apply when such crimes are being committed on Lebanese soil.

A member of the Human Rights Commission where Rifi brought up the allegations Monday told An-Nahar that Rifi has put forward a comprehensive case before the military tribunal.

Questions have also been raised about other Syrian activists who have gone missing in Lebanon, suspected of being kidnapped by the Syrian government.

And last night, Jumblatt said that he was not a clone, but that he has his own ideas about what’s happening in Lebanon and in the region.