Former MP Mikhail al-Daher proposed a new electoral that combines winner-takes-all system with the Orthodox Gathering law, An Nahar newspaper reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily, the suggestion is based on adopting the Orthodox Gathering proposal in the mixed provinces and the winner-takes-all in the remaining provinces.

International aid agency Oxfam on Tuesday launched a "12 Days of Giving" appeal to help destitute Syrian refugee families in Jordan and Lebanon survive the region's harsh winter months.

"Oxfam will be doing the best they can by delivering winter kits to help many of the poorest families," said British actress Michelle Dockery who last month visited refugees in Jordan who have fled their country's conflict.

The Syndicate Coordination Committee vowed on Tuesday to go on strike if the Finance and Budget Parliamentary Committee, which is headed by MP Ibrahim Kanaan, failed to refer to the parliament the decree aimed at increasing the salaries of public sector employees.

Kanaan said in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper that the committee discussed on Monday the decree, which still needs a final drafting that would be wrapped up in the upcoming two days.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has appealed for a reconciliation conference in the northern city of Tripoli to resolve the ongoing violence that has threatened to spiral out of control.

Al-Joumhouria quoted Charbel as saying on Tuesday that such a conference should bring together Tripoli's politicians, including lawmakers and ministers, and party leaders.

Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati denied that the northern city of Tripoli had become a military zone, saying the army will only take charge of security in it for six months to end the bloody clashes.

Announcing Tripoli a military zone “hasn't been under discussion from the beginning,” Miqati told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc head MP Fouad Saniora assured on Monday that his party holds “identical” views with the Maronite Patriarch regarding Lebanon's role in the ongoing regional turmoil.

"Our views, as usual, were identical to those of Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi regarding the commitment to the Baabda Declaration and disassociating Lebanon from regional and international conflicts and especially from the Syrian crisis” Saniora said after holding talks, along with an al-Mustaqbal delegation, with the Patriarch in Bkirki.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati announced Monday evening that the army will be entrusted with Tripoli's security for six months and that all security agencies in the city will be put under its command.

“During the meeting he held at the presidential palace this afternoon with President Michel Suleiman and Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, it was decided to task the Lebanese army with taking the necessary measures to preserve security in Tripoli for a period of six months and to place security forces under its command,” said a statement issued by Miqati's office.

The Phalange Party on Monday warned that the situation in the clashes-hit city of Tripoli might soon reach the “point of no return” if left unaddressed, urging security agencies not to be “lenient in implementing the security plan” and to rescue it from the hands of “gunmen and warlords in the two rival neighborhoods.”

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party stressed its solidarity with the city's residents “who are only aspiring to live in a stable and safe environment.”

Residents of the Bekaa town of Qsar Naba forced hundreds of Syrian refugees from an informal campsite on Monday, setting fire to tents after accusing them of raping a mentally-disabled man.

But a doctor who examined the man said there was no evidence he was attacked, and one resident of the village said the alleged rape was a pretext to drive the refugees from the site.

Customs acting chief Shafiq Merhi apologized on Monday to al-Jadeed television over last week's assault against its journalists.

He added in an interview with the television station that he did not order customs agents to attack the crew.