French Foreign Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot voiced his country's support for the Lebanese government's policy of disassociation from regional developments, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.

He told the daily that all Lebanese powers must respect the Baabda Declaration that was sponsored by President Michel Suleiman and which calls for sides to adhere to the disassociation policy.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc head MP Fouad Saniora stated on Saturday his rejection of all appearances of gunmen in the southern city of Sidon, condemning blocking roads and “threatening people's movements”.

“We are against all appearances of gunmen in the city,” Saniora stressed in a speech he gave at Rafik Hariri High School during the commemoration of Sidon's liberation from Israeli occupation, insisting that judicial and security authorities are the “only bodies in charge of assuring security and of restoring people's rights”.

Controversial Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and his supporters rallied for the second day in a row in the town of Abra in the southern city of Sidon amid heavy security deployment to protest claims that Hizbullah rented apartments in the vicinity of his mosque in the town.

“We reject the security siege and media blackout,” al-Asir said during the protest.

Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal called on the army on Saturday to “correct its performance”, threatening to issue a fatwa that calls for jihad against those “slandering Sunnis”.

“We urge the army to change its path to preserve the country' security,” al-Shahhal said in a press conference during which he commented on Friday's incident in the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali stressed on Saturday that the Syrian Army is responding to the sources of fire along the Lebanese border to preserve the country's stability.

“The Syrian territories are attacked by gunmen, from various nationalities, who are entering Lebanon and violating the sovereignty of Lebanon and Syria,” Ali said after talks with Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour at the Bustros Palace.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Saturday that the Lebanese authorities will not tolerate any security chaos across the country.

“We consider that every matter should be resolved calmly and slowly but it seems that some sides want to create sedition in Lebanon,” Miqati told reporters after holding talks with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh.

The Interior Ministry announced Saturday that all the ballot boxes needed for the municipal by-elections throughout the country have been distributed.

The ministry said in a statement that the boxes had been distributed by 10:00 am for the elections that will take place on Sunday.

Inmates at Tyre prison in the South rioted on Saturday to protest the transfer of a prisoner back to their division, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the prisoners burned mattresses and banged on the doors and windows of the facility when security forces sought to return an inmate, Najib Gharib, back to their division.

Protesters demanding the government to refer the wage scale for the public sector to parliament for approval held on Saturday a sit-in near the vehicle registration authority in the North Metn town of Dekwaneh, vowing a "comprehensive mobilization" next week.

The protest was organized by the Syndicate Coordination Committee, which is a coalition of private and public school teachers and public sector employees.

The National Struggle Front and al-Mustaqbal bloc are the two major parties that have so far announced that they would boycott a parliamentary session if the Orthodox Gathering proposal was put on its agenda, An Nahar daily reported on Saturday.

The newspaper said that National Struggle Front chief and Druze leader Walid Jumblat and the members of his bloc would boycott the session if Speaker Nabih Berri invites the lawmakers for a General Assembly to vote on the proposal.