Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday commended Tripoli residents for their “awareness” that “foiled all attempts to drag the city into a new series of chaos and discord.”

“It also showed the adherence of the people of Tripoli to the project of the state and its institutions by refusing all attempts to lure them against the state, because they believe that such attempts harm the city and the unity of the whole nation,” Hariri said in a statement.

The Phalange Party voiced on Monday its solidarity with the residents of the northern city of Tripoli in light of the eruption of clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, calling on the city leaderships to take a unified stand on the violence.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “The government should enforce an emergency plan that allows the military forces to take control of security throughout Lebanon.”

A meeting was held on Monday at the Tripoli residence of Mustaqbal MP Mohammed Kabbara to tackle the latest clashes in the city, which the lawmaker said is the product of a foreign conspiracy.

He said: “The political authority and Higher Defense Council are both conspiring against Tripoli.”

Hizbullah may not want a new war with Israel but an order to attack would come from Tehran in the event of a strike on Iran, a senior military official in Israel's northern command told Agence France Presse.

And should another conflict break out between Israel and the Lebanese group, it would be "much faster" than the 34-day war of 2006, said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat rejected attempts at portraying Lebanon as a “Salafist hub” for arresting those who support the Syrian revolution.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “Some security agencies in Lebanon are being prodded by Syria to harass the supporters of the Syrian revolution.”

Archbishop of Baalbek-Deir al-Ahmar Semaan Atallah handed over on Monday Banin Qataya back to her parents after she had left their home two weeks ago.

Qataya, who had converted to Christianity from Islam three years ago, had fled her home following psychological and physical abuse from her father as a result of her conversion, said Semaan.

France on Monday condemned the violence in the northern city of Tripoli and urged the Lebanese “not to import the Syrian conflict.”

“France calls on all the Lebanese to put their country’s interest above all else and to give priority to dialogue, national unity and civil peace, in order to avoid importing a conflict they have nothing to do with into their country,” French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.

Military Investigative Judge Nabil Wehbi on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Salafist activist Shadi al-Mawlawi, whose arrest in Tripoli on Saturday by General Security agents had sparked three days of deadly violence in the northern city.

Alongside Mawlawi, the judge also interrogated Hamza Mahmoud Tarabay and Qatari national Abdul Aziz al-Atiya. The two were released on bail while Atiya was also banned from traveling.

President Michel Suleiman held talks with various officials on the clashes that erupted in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend.

He said after meeting Interior Minister Marwan Charbel: “All sides must be aware of the dangerousness of creating instability in Lebanon.”

Electricite du Liban's contract employees held a protest on Monday near the company’s headquarters in Beirut, the National News Agency reported.

The demonstrators headed to Riad al-Solh square, holding banners that condemn the cabinet’s failure to approve their full-time employment draft law.