Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel condemned on Monday the clashes in the southern city of Sidon, voicing the party's support for the army's efforts to crackdown on the gunmen.

He said after the party's weekly politburo meeting: “A curfew should be imposed in all the regions that are witnessing tensions.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea noted on Monday that the “phenomenon” of Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir is a product of local conditions in Lebanon, calling on all Lebanese to support the army and state given the clashes in the southern city of Sidon.

He told Free Lebanon radio: “The phenomenon of Hizbullah produced several other phenomenons, including that of al-Asir.”

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Monday the “security chaos” in the Bekaa region, warning that its residents are at risk of paying the price of sectarian strife.

It said in a statement: “The residents of the region are paying the price for their harboring of the majority of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon.”

A statement issued on Monday after a security meeting presided by President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace voiced solidarity with the military institution and called on the army to arrest those who assault it.

The statement urged the army to take all the necessary measures too confront the gunmen until it ends all armed presence in the southern city of Sidon.

President Michel Suleiman assured on Sunday that the army is “fully authorized” to strike the attackers in the latest clashes between the gunmen of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army’s forces in the southern city of Sidon.

“The military institution is granted the full authorization to hit the attackers and arrest the perpetrators and the instigators and bring them to justice,” Suleiman said on Twitter.

President Michel Suleiman is expected to come under more criticism by the March 8 camp, at the Syrian regime's behest, over his memorandums objecting to the Syrian violations of Lebanese territories, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.

Sources told the daily that the Syrian regime “has been angered” by the president's stances and it has tasked its allies in Lebanon to launch campaigns against him “ahead of obstructing his role as president during the last year of his mandate.”

Efforts to form a new government are set to kick off next week in light of the visit of caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour to Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.

The meeting, held three days ago, are set to kick-start the government talks, it said while revealing the Speaker Nabih Berri had contacted President Michel Suleiman to that end.

Premier-designate Tammam Salam reiterated on Saturday that he rejected giving veto power to any party, saying his priority was forming a government based on trust and good performance.

“The nature of the cabinet should take into consideration the nation's interest,” Salam said from Baabda Palace after meeting President Michel Suleiman.

President Michel Suleiman demanded on Friday that measure be taken against Baath Party MP Assem Qanso over his recent accusation of high treason against the president.

Suleiman made the request to caretaker Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi.

The parliament's extended 17-month term entered into force on Friday as the Constitutional Council failed to meet for the fourth and last time to issue a ruling on petitions filed against the extension.

The council's head, Judge Issam Suleiman, drafted a report to detail the reasons and the circumstances behind the failure to convene the 10-member body.