Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Tuesday that he would visit the northern port city of Tripoli in the next few days to inspect the army units and security forces deployed there following the deadly clashes between two rival neighborhoods.

In remarks to al-Liwaa daily, Charbel also said that he would visit lawmakers, officials and clergymen in the capital of the North.

The opposition March 14 coalition will mark on Tuesday the 7th anniversary of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination at a gathering of politicians, diplomats, activists and academicians that will be held in BIEL.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who is recuperating at his house in Paris from fractures in his leg, will make a speech through a giant screen at the event that starts at 4:00 pm.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Monday stressed that he would only accept to return to the national dialogue table if the sole topic was Hizbullah’s arms and announced that he would “definitely” return to Lebanon.

“Those trying to oust me from Lebanon have been paying the price so far and those who tried to erase Rafik Hariri’s project are ousting themselves from Syria,” Hariri said in an interview with Future News television in Paris on the eve of the seventh assassination anniversary of his father, ex-PM Rafik Hariri.

The Phalange Party on Monday noted that the recent violence in Tripoli had exposed the extent of the security chaos in the country and the “frightening” proliferation of weapons in the northern city.

In a statement issued after its weekly meeting, the party’s political bureau warned that such incidents would import the Syrian crisis into Lebanon.

A fugitive was killed and another wounded on Monday when security forces opened fire on a car that tried to escape a checkpoint in the Beirut eastern suburb of Nabaa, state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA identified the slain man as Munir Munir Zoaiter and the wounded accomplice as Ali Hatem Zoaiter, saying they were wanted on several arrest warrants for involvement in murder and theft.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat condemned on Monday Lebanon’s position on the Arab League decision on Syria, saying that it had failed the Syrian people.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “Lebanon shied away from its political, humanitarian, and moral responsibilities towards ending oppression against the Syrian people when it voiced reservations on the Arab League decision.”

Firefighters doused on Monday a fire that erupted in a restaurant in ABC department store in Ashrafieyh, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

The fire broke out in the kitchen of Leila restaurant and the firefighters succeeded in preventing the blaze from spreading to other sections of the mall.

Speaker Nabih Berri has set next Wednesday as the date for a parliamentary session to discuss a number of proposals and draft laws.

The parliament will convene on Feb. 22 at 10:30 am, his office announced.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati ruled out on Monday the return of political assassinations in Lebanon, saying that any leads in this matter are being tackled by the concerned security authorities.

He told LBC television that will be broadcast later on Monday: “Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare informed me that he will release an updated version of the indictment in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri denied on Monday that he took an interest free-loan worth SR 7 billion from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz.

A statement issued by Hariri’s press office stressed that the report published in al-Akhbar newspaper included a series of “lies and fabrications against Hariri, the Saudi kingdom and its leadership.”