Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Wednesday announced that his political camp is seeking “stronger” communication with Hizbullah in a bid to “protect the country,” noting that he might visit the Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhoods amid the security plan that is being implemented in Tripoli.

“The implementation of the security plan in Tripoli is very comforting,” Rifi said as he entered a cabinet session in the afternoon, stressing that “Tripoli is larger than Ashraf Rifi and all the figures.”

The technical and logistic preparations of the security plan for the northern city of Tripoli are underway ahead of its imminent implementation.

An Nahar daily reported that the plan will take effect in two days.

Interior Minister Nuhad al-Mashnouq revealed on Friday that a security plan for the northern city of Tripoli and the eastern Bekaa Valley approved by the government would be implemented “soon.”

In remarks to An Nahar newspaper, al-Mashnouq said: “The countdown has started.”

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Sunday announced that his priority in the new cabinet will be seeking the withdrawal of Hizbullah from Syria, describing the fall of the Syrian rebel bastion of Yabrud as an “illusionary” victory and slamming the celebrations of Hizbullah's supporters in several Lebanese areas.

“In the wake of the successive events in Syria, the last of which was what happened in the town of Yabrud and the cross-border exodus into Arsal, we reiterate our warning against this rejected involvement in Syrian affairs, which exposes Lebanon to a definite danger,” Rifi said in a communique.

The cabinet on Friday endorsed its policy statement during a session that was delayed for more than three hours for strenuous consultations, as the three ministers of the Phalange Party and Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi voiced reservations over the clause related to resistance against Israel.

“The cabinet has endorsed the policy statement amid the reservations of the ministers of the Phalange Party Sejaan Qazzi (Labor), Ramzi Jreij (Information) and Alain Hakim (Economy), in addition to Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Inmates at Roumieh prison held a strike at the facility on Friday, two days after dozens stitched their lips together as part of a hunger strike to demand better living conditions.

The prisoners, however, ended their sit-in in the afternoon after Judge Dany al-Zhenni listened to their “legitimate demands and needs,” Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi announced.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, the former head of Internal Security Forces, on Sunday launched an initiative for Tripoli, his hometown, in a bid to address the turbulent security situation in the northern city.

The initiative comes "after Tripoli managed to prevent a twentieth round of violence" between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, Rifi said.

A petition demanding the referral of the deadly double car bombing that targeted the northern city of Tripoli in August to the the Judicial Council will be handed over next week to Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi, local newspaper reported on Friday.

A delegation from Tripoli and the North's lawyer's syndicate will hold a meeting with Rifi on Wednesday to hand him the petition, which was signed by around 70 thousand resident in Tripoli.

A seven-minister committee tasked with devising a new government is expected to convene on Wednesday afternoon.

The announcement was made shortly after the newly-formed cabinet held its first meeting at the Baabda Palace.

Hizbullah Liaison and Coordination Officer Wafiq Safa held talks with Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi to congratulate him on his appointment in Prime Minister Tammam Salam's cabinet, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, the meeting was held on Monday morning at Rifi's residence in Ashrafieh in presence of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau chief Col. Imad Othman and ISF Operations room chief Col. Hussam al-Tannoukhi.