Security forces stepped up security measures near Roumieh prison after obtaining information of riots inside and outside the facility amid reports that an escape attempt was thwarted.

The state-run National News Agency said that the heavy security deployment came in light of reports that the supporters and relatives of Islamist inmates intend to protest outside the facility, while prisoners will riot inside their cells.

President Michel Suleiman has said that the army-people-resistance formula can no longer be used for the new cabinet's policy statement over Hizbullah's involvement in the war in Syria, al-Liwaa newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily quoted Suleiman as telling a delegation from the Beirut National Gathering that the resistance took a unilateral decision to fight in Syria without consulting with the army and the people.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati considered on Wednesday that the disputes in the northern city of Tripoli between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen no longer exist.

“We are witnessing attempts by some mobs to control the city,” Miqati said in comments published in An Nahar newspaper.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called on the Lebanese to express support to President Michel Suleiman to salvage the state, stressing that the March 14 alliance has no other option but to back Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam in order to reach a neutral cabinet.

“Suleiman is the only remaining symbol for legitimacy,” Geagea said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday blamed the “procrastination” in the cabinet formation process on “foreign hegemony,” slamming officials over the “dangerous things” that are happening in the country.

“Officials do not know the reason behind the procrastination in the cabinet formation process and this is one of the ugliest things, as they only execute the orders without knowing the reason,” Aoun told reporters after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc in Rabiyeh.

The army arrested on Tuesday two supporters of Salafist cleric Ahmed al-Assir in the Sharhabil region near the southern city of Sidon over their involvement in last June's clashes against the military institution.

"Army forces were able to arrest Hadi Qawwas and Mohammed Wehbeh in Sharhabil,” the state-run National News Agency reported.

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc condemned on Tuesday the repeated Syrian violations against Lebanese border regions, calling on the Syrian regime to stop such practices.

It demanded in a statement after its weekly meeting that an official complaint be filed to the United Nations and Arab League to pressure the Syrian regime to halt its assaults.

Protests broke out in the northern city of Tripoli on Tuesday over a ruling against the imam of the Amira Mosque over his links to the 2008 bombing in the city's Tall area.

Scuffles erupted between the angry protesters and the army at the city's Abdul Hamid Karami square.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji stressed on Tuesday that the Army Command will be strict in addressing ties between officers and political leaderships.

He said during a meeting with high-ranking officers: “No politician is permitted to communicate with the army through an officer or a soldier.”

The military court rejected on Tuesday a request to release ex-Minister Michel Samaha based on a decision taken by State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr.

Last week, Saqr rejected the request, which was made by Samaha's defense lawyer Sakher Hashem, over the seriousness of his crime.