Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc head MP Fouad Saniora stated on Saturday his rejection of all appearances of gunmen in the southern city of Sidon, condemning blocking roads and “threatening people's movements”.

“We are against all appearances of gunmen in the city,” Saniora stressed in a speech he gave at Rafik Hariri High School during the commemoration of Sidon's liberation from Israeli occupation, insisting that judicial and security authorities are the “only bodies in charge of assuring security and of restoring people's rights”.

Lebanese leaders must adhere to their declared neutrality on the Syrian civil war amid warnings that the fighting could spill over the border, U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday.

"The reported involvement of certain Lebanese elements in the conflict in Syria is contrary to Lebanon's policy of disassociation," Ban said in a report to the U.N. Security Council on the implementation of resolution 1701.

The rebel Free Syrian Army stated on Wednesday that it is not seeking to start a military confrontation with Hizbullah on the Lebanese border, stressing however, that it will respond to any attack by the party.

"I have personally asked President Michel Suleiman to intervene and prevent Hizbullah from bombing our locations,” FSA chief of staff General Selim Idriss revealed during an interview on Future television.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Wednesday called for endorsing an electoral law based on proportional representation and a single electoral district, warning that some parties are seeking sectarian strife between Sunnis and Shiites in Lebanon.

“There is an alternative that addresses all the reservations voiced over the Orthodox Gathering law and we will work in a very serious manner for this alternative choice, although the Orthodox law will remain on the table,” said Nasrallah in a televised address he made to comment on the latest developments.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun warned on Tuesday against the current “dangerous security situation in the country”, explaining that not responding to “incitement, provocation, killing and kidnapping incidents will lead to an internal war”.

"Politicians and those keen on preserving the constitution are held responsible for any conflict that may erupt in the country,” Aoun stated in a statement he gave after Change and Reform parliamentary bloc's weekly meeting, adding that “armed forces on ground are preparing for this war”.

Supporters of Islamist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir were assaulted by an angry mob in the Zoqaq al-Blat-Salim Salam area on Sunday.

Around 2:30 p.m., soon after the end of an Islamist sit-in at the nearby Martyrs Square at which Asir delivered a speech, dozens of young men from the Zoqaq al-Blat neighborhood blocked the Salim Salam highway and started subjecting the passing vehicles to identity checks, a Naharnet reporter witnessed.

President Michel Suleiman on Sunday urged the “Syrian side” to refrain from opening fire and shelling Lebanon after two Lebanese were killed on the northern border with Syria.

Suleiman “expressed regret” at the death of Lebanese from “military operations near the Lebanese border,” said a statement issued by Baabda palace.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Friday said “the alternative” to the electoral law proposed by the Orthodox Gathering would be an electoral law that turns Lebanon into a single electoral district under a proportional representation system.

“I did not celebrate over the (approval of the) Orthodox Gathering law (by the joint parliamentary committees) and it is not a victory because victory is to be achieved during elections,” Aoun said in an interview on al-Manar television.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called on his allies in the March 14 coalition to make an effort to reach consensus over an electoral law instead of “continuously attacking” the Orthodox Gathering's draft, criticizing spreading a “fake victory atmosphere” among March 8's Christians.

“I urge political factions to agree on an electoral law instead of attacking the Orthodox draft,” Geagea stated in a speech he gave at a LF ceremony in Maarab, during which the door to admitting new party members was opened.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen postponed on Thursday the start of trial in the case of Ayyash et al., announced the STL in a statement.

The decision is in response to the Defense Counsel for the four accused in the February 14, 2005 attack asking Fransen to postpone the trial date.