Former prime minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday held talks in Paris with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, during which the French official stressed the importance of sparing Lebanon the repercussions of the Syrian crisis.

The meeting tackled the situations in Lebanon, the bilateral ties between the two countries and the latest developments in the region, according to a statement issued by Hariri’s press office.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday said Syria has intensified its shelling of northern border towns in order to “stoke tensions in Lebanon and the North and consequently provoke a response that would complicate things and inflict more harm on both the Syrians and the Lebanese.”

“After the foiling of the conspiracy that was being plotted by the cell of the criminals (ex-minister Michel) Samaha and (Syrian security chief Ali) Mamlouk, the Syrian regime is trying to export tensions to Lebanon in any possible way, that’s why the violations against Lebanese sovereignty have intensified,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

A man who received a hero’s welcome in Lebanon after spending 27 years in Syrian prisons is actually a “Syrian national,” media reports said on Tuesday.

“The Syrian embassy sent a cable to the Lebanese foreign ministry, noting that Yaacoub Chamoun is a Syrian national and that he was arrested for collaborating with Israel,” al-Manar television reported.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on Tuesday noted that it can help Lebanon control its border with Syria should the Lebanese government make such a request.

Commenting on media reports about a possible deployment of UNIFIL peacekeepers on the border with Syria, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said UNIFIL’s deployment and missions were specified by the U.N. Security Council and approved by Lebanon’s government, noting that UNIFIL’s area of operations was defined by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah.

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali on Tuesday said the memorandum submitted by the March 14 forces to President Michel Suleiman is “unachievable” and “unrealistic,” calling on the Lebanese government to respond to this “media uproar.”

“Syria has always made it clear that the treaties signed between the two countries serve Lebanon’s interest before Syria’s,” Ali said in an interview on al-Manar television.

A woman was killed and two people were wounded on Tuesday in the explosion of a landmine left over from the several wars with Israel in the southern town of Marwahin, state-run National News Agency reported.

The body of the 35-year-old woman, Nada Ghannam, was taken to Salah Ghandour Hospital in Bint Jbeil, NNA said.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun demanded on Tuesday a detailed account of the developments along the Lebanese-Syrian border “because developments have started to take a dangerous turn.”

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “An official government report over the border situation should be made for us to take a position from Syria.”

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen has granted nine additional persons the status of victims participating in the Ayyash et al proceedings, the STL said Tuesday in a statement.

The nine victims will form part of the existing group of 58 victims whose status as victims participating in the proceedings was recognized by Fransen in May 2012.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Tuesday that the government is committed to the implementation of the smoking ban that was recently approved by parliament.

He said after meeting with a delegation from the restaurant owners syndicate: “Those protesting the ban should have presented alternatives before the law was approved at parliament.”

The Syndicate Coordination Committee threatened to stage a nationwide protest on Thursday if the Cabinet failed to approve the new wages increase for the public sector employees.