The March 14 General Secretariat will hold its weekly meetings in different areas across Lebanon with the aim of decreasing the sectarian tension, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the newspaper, the General Secretariat will kickstart this week meetings in the southern city of Sidon in solidarity with its residents.

Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir was plotting to target several areas across Lebanon in an attempt to provoke strife under the auspices of a “prominent” security agency and funded by well-known businessmen, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.

A security source told As Safir newspaper that reputable businessmen granted al-Asir financial funds and apartments, who in turn used the funding to buy arms and explosives, aiming to bomb several areas across the country to create a sectarian strife.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Daniel Fransen will hold a status conference hearing on Wednesday, announced the tribunal in a statement on Monday.

“In conformity with the Rules of Procedures and Evidence of the STL, the pre-trial judge convenes such hearings to review the status of the case through an exchange between the parties in order to ensure expeditious preparation for trial,” it said.

Unrest erupted Monday afternoon in the northern city of Tripoli as a man was arrested for interrogation after he appeared alongside singer-turned-Islamist militant Fadel Shaker in a video circulated in the wake of the Abra battle.

“A hand grenade was hurled near Tripoli's Serail as gunmen appeared on the city's streets and blocked roads in al-Nour Square and al-Beddawi,” MTV reported.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel urged on Monday Hizbullah to end its fighting in Syria and “return to the Lebanese fold,” while saying that he is not opposed to extending the term of Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji.

He said after the party's weekly politburo meeting: “It would be beneficial to make an exception and extend Qahwaji's term due to the current tensions.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on Monday due to seek Italy's help in putting Hizbullah on a European Union list of “terrorist” organizations.

Ahead of talks with his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta, Netanyahu told reporters that Hizbullah is one of the most "pre-eminent terrorist organizations of our time," adding that the group currently poses the most immediate security threat to Israel, in remarks carried by the website of The Jerusalem Post.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns on Monday wrapped up an official visit to Lebanon after meeting with President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati.

Burns also met with Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and former premier Fouad Saniora, head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr has asked for the DNA samples of Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir's mother and the brother of singer-turned Salafist Fadel Shaker, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA said the results of the tests will be compared with the DNAs of two burned bodies found by the army after taking control of the complex of al-Asir near the southern city of Sidon following two days of heavy gunbattles last week.

Unknown assailants opened fire on Monday a gas tanker on the Zahle highway, reported the National News Agency.

The driver Ali Mehdi Jaafar, who escaped unscathed, said that he was chased by two cars as he reached the Rihab crossroad on the highway near the Bekaa city.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Monday a three-day parliamentary session over lack of quorum caused by the boycott of several blocs for their doubt on the constitutionality of the session with a resigned government.

His office released a statement saying the session was postponed to July 16-17-18 to discuss the same items that were put on Monday's agenda.