The Internal Security Forces called on Saturday citizens against resorting to the use of fireworks during various celebrations.

It said in a statement: “The use of fireworks for national, religious, and social occasions, such as weddings, sports events, and the announcement of exam results, raises fear among the people.”

Rudeina Malaeb, a Druze woman who married a Sunni man who was attacked by her angry family, said on Saturday that Rabih al-Ahmed deceived her to marry him.

“Everything that Rabih said is fabricated... He tried to assault me several times,” Rudeina, 20, told LBCI, in her first appearance since Rabih's penis was cut off in the Aley town of Baisour two days ago.

Lebanon's security forces have detained two relatives of the wife of a murdered Syrian official on suspicion they were involved in his killing, a security source told AFP Saturday.

Mohammad Darrar Jammo, a strong supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, was gunned down at his home by unknown attackers early on Wednesday in what initially was thought to be a political assassination.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel questioned the media uproar and “lawmakers' hysteria” over the decision to withdraw the additional security forces of some lawmakers, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

He told the daily that the decision has not taken effect yet and it will be approved or rejected by the Central Security Council during an upcoming meeting.

Speaker Nabih Berri criticized the criticism directed against the Lebanese army and parliament, saying that the two institutions are symbols of Lebanon's unity, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

He labeled the campaign against the army as “suspicious”, wondering why soldiers would be put on trial over the recent clashes in the southern region of Abra in the city of Sidon.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam held talks on Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri's envoy caretaker Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil on the government formation efforts in what the daily al-Joumhouria on Saturday said was a new round of consultations on the matter.

Salam's sources told the daily that Khalil did not offer any new cabinet lineup, while the premier-designate remained committed to his stances on the government.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday said that all Lebanese regions are going through a “new security situation,” noting that Hizbullah is willing to engage in national dialogue over a national defense strategy “without any preconditions.”

“There's no doubt that we're going through a new security situation,” Nasrallah said in a televised address during the annual iftar banquet held by the Islamic Resistance Support Association.

An exchange of gunfire erupted on Friday between two gunmen and members of an Internal Security Forces checkpoint in the Beirut district of Corniche al-Mazraa, state-run National News Agency reported.

“An ISF checkpoint was stopping cars violating the ban on tinted-glass windows when it asked a violating driver to pull over and started removing the illegal tinting. Another tinted-glass car arrived on the scene and its passengers tried to voice objection before two men arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire on the checkpoint's members,” NNA said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lamented on Friday the weakening of the Lebanese state and its institutions, blaming the spread of illegitimate arms for the deterioration of the state of affairs in the country.

He said: “We are fed up with lies. Those who claim to love the army should lay down their illegitimate weapons.”

EU foreign ministers are likely to put the military wing of Hizbullah on their blacklist of "terror groups," EU diplomatic sources said Friday as the cabinet warned against such a step.

"There are still some reservations... but we are moving towards a decision on listing Hizbullah's military wing," a senior EU official said ahead of a meeting of all 28 EU foreign ministers on Monday.