Russian ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin stressed that since the eruption of the conflict in Syria, Moscow had supported Lebanon's policy of disassociation, reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.

He asked: “Why should we ask Hizbullah to withdraw its fighters from Syria when two years ago our calls on armed groups from northern Lebanon to withdraw was left unheeded?”

President Michel Suleiman is expected to make a speech on Saturday during the unveiling of the busts of the 12 Lebanese presidents that have ruled the country since its independence in 1943, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Saturday.

The daily said that the president will retain the “firm tone” that marked his recent speeches.

Arab Tawhid Party leader Wiam Wahhab on Friday warned that Syrian warplanes would strike the “armed groups” in Tripoli if they decided to “attack Jabal Mohsen.”

Wahhab, who is close to the Syrian regime, held the Lebanese state responsible for the unrest in Tripoli, noting that security incidents will not end anytime soon in the northern city.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday warned against “leaving the army alone in Tripoli” and strongly condemned the abduction of nuns from the Syrian Christian town of Maalula at the hands of Syrian rebels.

In a statement, the PSP leader cautioned against “leaving the army alone in Tripoli without offering it full political cover, firstly from Tripoli's figures and secondly from the rest of Lebanese figures, so that it can fully perform its duties and restore security and stability in the city.”

Government commissioner to the military court Judge Saq Saqr charged three men with plotting to carry out terrorist activities, the state-run National News Agency reported on Friday.

The three men hail from Jabal Mohsen neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli.

Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal canceled on Friday a sit-in that he had called for in the northern city of Tripoli in protest against the army’s crackdown on gunmen, averting a showdown with the military.

Shahhal said that he would replace the protest with prayers at the Grand Mansouri Mosque.

The Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar expressed fear on Friday over the ongoing situation in Tripoli a day after tension soared again in the northern city, jeopardizing a security plan that the army began implementing to end gunbattles between rival neighborhoods in the city.

“Thursday's clashes with the army is an attempt to topple the security plan in Tripoli or a conspiracy is being weaved,” al-Shaar told al-Liwaa newspaper.

A soldier was killed and 6 others were wounded on Thursday evening as tension soared again in the northern city of Tripoli.

In addition to the usual clashes between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, the northern city also witnessed a demonstration by residents protesting the army's measures in the area.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement lashed out at Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat over his recent statements, considering that the Druze leader has “no right to make al-Mustaqbal a target for political sniper gunshots.”

“Al-Mustaqbal movement has been avoiding to engage in any debate that might target the origin of the historical ties with Jumblat,” a prominent official in al-Mustaqbal told al-Joumhouria newspaper on condition of anonymity.

The competent security agencies uncovered the identity of the person who was behind the video threatening Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.

A security source rejected to unveil the name of the culprit until he is brought to justice, noting that a permission was granted to pursue him on charges of destabilizing civil peace in the northern city of Tripoli,incitement and sedition.