Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi condemned on Sunday the eruption of clashes in the northern city of violence, saying that the latest round of unrest between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen exposes Lebanon on the security level.

He said during his Sunday sermon: “It is unfortunate that the conditions in Lebanon are ripe for such clashes to happen.”

The army carried out on Sunday a raid in the inner markets of the northern city of Tripoli where it arrested a number of suspects, reported the National News Agency.

It raided the store of Hatem al-Janzarli, who is suspected of opening fire at the army.

Head of the Mustaqbal bloc MP Fouad Saniora on Sunday held talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain al-Tineh on the latest developments in Lebanon, as a media report said the speaker wanted to put the ex-PM in the picture of a "mediation" he was tasked with in Iran.

"During his visit to Iran, Berri informed its leaders that he was willing to exert efforts to achieve Iranian-Saudi rapprochement, and he was tasked with this mission, but he did not want to bypass the Mustaqbal Movement so he held a meeting with Saniora," MTV reported.

Clashes intensified on Sunday evening in the northern city of Tripoli as the casualty toll from two days of fighting rose to 11 dead and at least 70 injured.

"The situation has largely deteriorated in Tripoli as dozens of rocket-propelled grenades hit the frontiers of al-Mankoubin, al-Riva, al-Baqqar, Souk al-Qameh, al-Barraniyeh, Hariri Residential Complex, al-Amerkan and Syria Street," state-run National News Agency reported.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced on Saturday that Tripoli's figures agreed to unify the command in the northern city of Tripoli, warning also that a difficult phase is awaiting Lebanon.

“We have discussed during the security meeting between Tripoli's figures the points of weakness and strength of the security plan implemented in the city,” Charbel said after holding talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

President Michel Suleiman urged Lebanon's youth on Saturday not to be the fuel that meets the interests of rival party leaders, stressing the importance of commitment to the Baabda Declaration.

In remarks to runners in an annual marathon held on the occasion of Independence Day, Suleiman called for keeping the spirit of independence and avoiding dependency on other countries.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Saturday that the Lebanese state will not hesitate in taking all the necessary decisions to avert the situation in the northern city of Tripoli, saying that the security forces will deal firmly with violators.

“We have takes several security decision that should aid the security forces in carrying out their tasks in Tripoli,” Miqati told reporters after talks with Greek Orthodox Patriarch Youhanna X Yazigi at Balamand University.

The Lebanese army detained on Saturday a Lebanese man, who hails from the north, at a checkpoint in northeastern border town of Arsal.

According to the state-run National News Agency, the man belongs to a Salafist group and was arrested at dawn on Saturday at a checkpoint in Wadi Hmeid in Arsal.

Clashes in rival neighborhoods in the northern city of Tripoli resumed on Saturday, leaving six people dead and at least 22 others wounded, after a resident was shot in his feet in a renewal of targeted sectarian attacks.

Snipers in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen districts became active when Wassim al-Khatib, a Alawite, was shot in his feet in the area of al-Beddawi-al-Mankoubine, in the second such incident in three days.

A meeting is scheduled to be held next week between members of the Change and Reform and National Struggle Front blocs, lawmaker Ibrahim Kanaan told al-Joumhouria newspaper published Saturday.

It would be the fourth such meeting between MP Michel Aoun's Change and Reform and other blocs.