Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. has dubbed Lebanon as a country that has opened its borders for smuggled weapons, warning that the Jewish state would not withdraw from the border village of Ghajar as long as Hizbullah continues to arm itself.

Ambassador Ron Prosor said following a Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East on Thursday that “Lebanon would be best defined as the open border for smuggled ammunition and arms.”

Pro- and anti-Syrian regime sit-ins were held by scores of protestors in different districts of the northern city of Tripoli on Friday as the army and security forces took strong measures to prevent clashes.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has ordered security forces to take “extraordinary measures.” He told An Nahar daily that he ordered the measures after he was informed that several sit-ins were planned to protest Syrian President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protestors.

Hizbullah on Thursday condemned life jail terms imposed in Bahrain against Shiite opposition activists who have taken part in anti-government protests in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

“These repressive measures expose the mentality of the Bahraini authorities, which rejects any attempt to reform the political system, and highlight the falsehood of their claims on seeking dialogue with the Bahraini people’s representatives, who are being dragged to jails and subjected to oppression and torture,” Hizbullah said in a statement.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday presided over the fourth meeting of the ministerial committee tasked with drafting the Policy Statement of the new government.

The meeting did not tackle the controversial clause on the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon. However, briefing reporters after the meeting, Information Minister Walid al-Daouq denied that the conferees had decided to leave the issue to the country’s national dialogue committee.

The Tripoli Bar hosted on June 16 a workshop organized by the Defense Office and the Victims’ Participation Unit of the Registry of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, in collaboration with the North Lebanon and the Beirut Bar Associations.

This occasion marked the start of a roundtable that will continue in Beirut and Leidschendam and will cover all aspects of the judicial activities of the Tribunal.

The Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali stated on Thursday that Syria wishes Lebanon well, hoping that its new government would be successful in its work because that would benefit Syria.

On March 14 camp claims that the new government belongs to Syria and Hizbullah, he said: “The statements of President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Speaker Nabih Berri, and all our brothers in Lebanon are a response to such allegations.”

The French Ambassador to Lebanon Denis Pietton, on behalf of his government, Thursday handed over eight Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the Lebanese armed forces at a ceremony held at the UNIFIL Headquarters in Naqoura.

The APCs were deployed with French troops in UNIFIL and had been returned to French Army control. France decided to release them directly to the armed forces.

Libyan rebel National Transitional Council chief Mustafa Abdul Jalil confirmed that witnesses can reveal the truth about the disappearance and the fate of Shiite Imam Moussa al-Sadr.

Abdul Jalil told the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Anbaa on Thursday that he discussed the issue with some Lebanese officials. “We are ready to offer help if the Lebanese cabinet asked us to,” he said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Thursday that the opposition will adopt democratic measures in order to “get rid of this government and topple it as soon as possible.”

He told Voice of Lebanon radio: “This goal was set seeing as the new government belongs to Syria and Hizbullah … and it is seeking to isolate Lebanon on the Arab and international levels.”

A man died and another was rescued when they got stuck in a sewer in the southern town of Burj Rahhal on Thursday, media reports said.

Zein Mughniyeh, 28, died soon after he was rescued by civil defense teams and taken to Jabal Amel hospital in Tyre.