Saudi newspaper Okaz warned Hizbullah on Sunday that the kingdom “still has legal, political and economic cards to play in the Lebanese arena.”

“The Lebanese cannot live under the rule of a statelet within the state,” the daily added.

North Governor Judge Ramzi Nohra, Tripoli police commander Abdul Nasser Ghimrawi and a number of officers on Sunday carried out a campaign to remove political posters and banners from the northern city of Tripoli, after the torching of a poster of Saudi Arabia's crown prince sparked a war of words between Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq and ex-justice minister Ashraf Rifi.

“At the request of Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq, all political posters and banners were removed today in Tripoli,” Nohra said.

Participants in Beirut's annual marathon usually run to support medical research or human rights. But this year, Lebanese racers have opted for another cause: their 'missing' prime minister. 

Saad Hariri has yet to return to Lebanon since his shock resignation in a televised announcement from Saudi Arabia eight days ago.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri will appear in a TV interview in the coming hours, talk show hostess Paula Yacoubian confirmed on Sunday.

President Michel Aoun has called on Saudi Arabia to “clarify the reasons for the delay in Prime Minister Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon” after his shock announcement last week from Riyadh that he was resigning and amid reports that he is being held in SA.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Saturday that “if the March 8 alliance truly” wants PM Saad Hariri's return they would “withdraw from the crises in the region.”

Just when things were starting to look up for Lebanon's economy, a new political crisis threatens to send it crashing down again.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri's shock resignation could unravel the first steps in years toward injecting some cash and confidence in Lebanon's anemic economy. Already, the crisis is putting at risk multi-billion-dollar plans to rebuild decaying road and electrical and communication networks and get the oil and gas sector moving.

The United States and France have expressed their support for Lebanon's sovereignty and stability amid heightening tensions between Beirut and Saudi Arabia.

A political crisis has gripped Lebanon and shattered the relative peace maintained by its coalition government since Prime Minister Saad Hariri's stunning announcement Nov. 4 from the Saudi capital that he was resigning.

The Lebanese army carried out raids in Baalbek in the Bekaa valley that included an exchange of gunfire in search for a Saudi national kidnapped a day earlier, media reports said on Saturday.

Army members staged raids in the town of Dar al-Wasaa that escalated into an exchange of fire with the suspects leaving three injured, reports said.

President Michel Aoun could file a complaint to the UN Security Council if Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who resigned last week from Riyadh, did not return to Beirut and the circumstances surrounding his stay in Saudi Arabia are not clarified, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.