Syrian President Bashar Assad’s departure would be a “major blow” to Hizbullah, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday.

Toppling Assad would seriously hurt Tehran, he said. "It will be a major blow to Iran when Assad falls; they are now supporting him very actively. It will be a weakening blow to the Hizbullah and probably Islamic Jihad."

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Wednesday charged that “the General Security has become a proxy for the Syrian regime,” voicing solidarity with President Michel Suleiman over the issue of administrative appointments.

The General Directorate of General Security “has become a proxy for the Syrian regime and it acted in a foolish way, as it could have sent a judicial warrant to (Salafist activist Shadi) al-Mawlawi instead of luring him into a trap, not to mention the story of the Jordanian who was exported by Iran to Syria and by Syria to Lebanon in a story that reminds us of Shaker al-Absi.”

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Moqdad on Wednesday said his country was suffering “attacks by terrorist groups across the Lebanese border,” adding that “Lebanese parties are supporting these terrorists.”

“The Lebanese supporters of these terrorist groups are well-known and we have documented and precise information in this regard,” Moqdad said in an interview with al-Manar television.

An agreement was reached on Wednesday between Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Islamic committees and the committee following up on the case of Islamist detainees, under which Salafist activist Shadi al-Mawlawi will be re-interrogated on Thursday under the supervision of Judge Saqr Saqr and in the presence of Mawlawi’s lawyers.

Following the agreement, Islamist protesters reopened roads leading to Tripoli’s al-Nour Square but decided to maintain their sit-in until Thursday afternoon.

Herman von Hebel, Registrar of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has designated one lead counsel and two co-counsel to represent the victims of the February 14, 2005 attack in the Ayyash et al. proceedings, the court said in a statement on Wednesday.

Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen decided on May 8 to grant 58 people the right to participate as victims in the proceedings as one group.

A person was killed and at least 10 others were wounded on Wednesday as clashes renewed in Tripoli despite the presence of Interior Minister Marwan Charbel in the northern city, the scene of three days of deadly clashes which ended by a ceasefire on Tuesday.

A security official speaking on condition of anonymity told Agence France Presse the shooting broke out after soldiers tried to remove barricades in the city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood.

The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday the recent clashes in Tripoli, accusing Syria of being behind the unrest as it is seeking to spread its crisis to Lebanon.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The unrest was sparked at the order of Syrian President Bashar Assad in order create violence in Lebanon and the region in response to his collapse on the internal scene.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel urged officials on Wednesday to assume its responsibilities and take a cohesive political decision in dealing with the gunmen in Tripoli.

“We are ready to discuss the recent incidents with all the parties in Tripoli in order to preserve security in the city,” Charbel told reporters after chairing a security meeting at the Tripoli Serail.

Conflicting reports emerged on Wednesday over threats made by Electricite du Liban's contract workers to set the company’s offices in Mar Mikhael on fire if their demands were not carried out.

According to the National News agency the contract workers urged the company’s employees in Beirut to leave the building before 11:00 a.m.

Hizbullah deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed on Wednesday that consensus over the electoral law for the upcoming 2013 elections can be reached through the resumption of dialogue among all parties.

“Hizbullah would enter dialogue with anyone and in the end the electoral law will be issued through the parliament, which includes various political blocs,” Qassem said in an interview with An Nahar newspaper.