Two people were killed on Thursday and 21 others were injured, including a soldier, in renewed fighting and sniper activity in the northern city of Tripoli, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The fighting had reportedly escalated following the death of Arab Democratic Party top military official Bassam Abdullah in Jabal Mohsen.

Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has advocated the election of a president away from foreign intervention and advised Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to launch a new round of consultations with parliamentary blocs.

“There should always be a first time. Currently there are a lot of crises and no one's thinking about us. So we should elect the president internally,” Aoun told al-Akhbar daily in an interview published on Thursday.

Lebanese officials are mulling the country's participation in a peace conference over Syria in accordance with the dissociation policy that the country has adopted since the conflict in the neighboring country erupted in March 2011.

Diplomatic sources told An Nahar newspaper published on Thursday that Lebanese officials will inform U.N.-Arab League special envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, who is expected to arrive in Beirut on Saturday, that it will not join Geneva ll conference.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has warned that all Lebanese factions would hold arms and confront a possible attempt by Hizbullah to impose a change in the political system.

In an interview with Alriyadh newspaper published on Wednesday, Geagea said: “If Hizbullah considers any such a move then every Lebanese group will hold arms.”

The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc slammed on Tuesday the release of suspects linked to the case of the abduction of two Turkish pilots, saying that this “scandal” helps enforce lawlessness in Lebanon.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The state, starting with President Michel Suleiman and the government, should take a position that would put a stop to the collapse of laws in Lebanon.”

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Tuesday the importance of the Baabda Declaration that calls for Lebanon to distance itself from regional developments, saying that it has helped safeguard the country from the unrest.

He said: “The policy of disassociation is a source of pride and no one has the right to criticize it.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea confirmed that he has met with President Michel Suleiman away from the media spotlight, saying their talks focused on the delay in the formation of a new government, which would harm the Constitution.

In an interview with al-Akhbar daily published on Monday, Geagea said: “We discussed a lot of issues and I told him about the need to speed up the cabinet formation process because the delay is eating away the Constitution and Constitutional authorities.”

More Lebanese top political and religious officials congratulated on Sunday nine Lebanese pilgrims and their families on their safe return home from Syria and called for the release of the kidnapped bishops.

In a telephone conversation with Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who had been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the pilgrims, President Michel Suleiman inquired about the health of the nine men.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi has congratulated the families of the nine pilgrims who were released on Saturday following a 17-month kidnapping ordeal in Syria but called for setting free two bishops and three priests abducted there.

During a mass on a pastoral visit to the Metn district, al-Rahi said: “We congratulate their relatives on their safe return but we pray specially for the release of Bishops Boulos Yazigi and Youhanna Ibrahim and the three priests who were kidnapped months ago.”

President Michel Suleiman lamented on Friday that the international community was not sufficiently sharing the burden of the displaced Syrians, who have put a severe strain on Lebanon's economy.

Suleiman told the ambassadors of major powers and U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly that “the participation of countries in sharing the burden of Syrian refugees is not sufficient.”