Syrian Kurds held a protest outside the Syrian embassy in Beirut’s Hamra thoroughfare on Sunday while a group of President Bashar Assad’s supporters demonstrated in the same location.

Security forces deployed in the area to prevent any clash and set up a human barricade between the two sides.

Saudi Arabia has advised its citizens to steer clear of downtown Beirut against the backdrop of an assault on a prince several weeks ago, Saudi embassy sources said.

The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Sunday that the advisory was sent to Saudis residing and studying in Lebanon.

A meeting between Russian Ambassador Alexander Zasypkin and al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc leader Fouad Saniora came upon orders from authorities in Moscow, An Nahar daily reported Sunday.

The meeting held between the two sides on Saturday was attended by former Minister Mohammed Shatah.

No progress was made in the past hours in the efforts to find a solution to the objection to promote head of the Internal Security Forces Information Branch Col. Wissam al-Hassan, a security source told An Nahar daily on Sunday.

President Michel Suleiman withheld his signature from a decree to promote around 400 police officers in all security institutions because of the objection over al-Hassan’s promotion to brigadier general.

Judge Sir David Baragwanath, who succeeded Antonio Cassese after he stepped down as President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon this month, will not last in his post, an STL judge told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat.

The judge, who refused to be named, said on Sunday that a decision to announce a successor for Cassese won’t last because U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon alone has the right to appoint an STL president.

MPs will seek to put the issue of Hizbullah’s attempt to expand its telecommunications network in Tarshish near the eastern town of Zahle on the agenda of the information committee on Wednesday as the town’s residents have warned they would resort to a sit-in if the authorities do not take any action.

An Nahar daily said Sunday that the lawmakers would try to discuss the controversial issue at the parliamentary information committee meeting that is set to study the media law.

An extraordinary cabinet session on tourism scheduled to be held next Tuesday was postponed over the death of Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, An Nahar newspaper reported.

The daily said Sunday that the decision to postpone the session came after Premier Najib Miqati decided to head to Saudi Arabia to attend the funeral.

The death of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has ended the possibility of persecuting him in Lebanon over his alleged role in the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Saturday.

Lebanese judicial sources told the daily that Lebanon’s judicial council will follow up on the matter through the necessary diplomatic means and concerned ministries in order to eventually drop the case against Gadhafi.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stated that the Lebanese opposition is nearing its goals, criticizing sides that believe that opposition means occupying downtown Beirut, blocking roads, and stirring unrest.

He told Abu Dhabi’s al-Ittihad newspaper: “The real opposition is what we are doing today through following up on the government’s work and issuing positions on all that is being proposed in Lebanon.”

The Lebanese army has bolstered its presence along the Lebanese-Syrian border in light of recent Syrian army incursions into the country, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Saturday.

Field sources told the daily that the army has also intensified its patrols in those areas.