Prime Minister Najib Miqati chaired a security meeting at his residence in the northern city of Tripoli on Thursday to follow up the on the latest developments in the city.

The premier demanded the security forces to set up checkposts in the city to restore security, to tighten security measures, and detain any gunmen.

President Michel Suleiman linked his approval to signing the $5.9 billion extra-budgetary spending with the cabinet’s approval of Finance Minister Mohammed al-Safadi’s proposal to allocate his ministry with $3.12 billion to cover some expenses of state institutions in 2012, al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday.

A ministerial source told the daily that cabinet members failed to find consensus over Safadi’s proposal during Wednesday’s cabinet session at the Baabda Palace, prompting the postponement of the discussions until next week’s session.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s political aide Hussein Khalil stressed on Thursday that the strong sectarian rhetoric must end if officials want to find a radical solution for the local crises and security breaches.

“What is happening in the country is the result of the sectarian flaring… which has negative repercussions on the country’s stability and the civil peace,” Khalil said in an interview with al-Liwaa newspaper.

Two people were killed on Thursday as sniper attacks resumed in the northern city of Tripoli, reported Voice of Lebanon radio.

The dead include a child from the Zahra family, it added.

A prisoner exchange took place on Tuesday between the Jaafar clan and Syrian opposition members.

The opposition members handed over two Lebanese nationals, Khodr Husssein Khalil Jaafar and Abdullah al-Zein, who were kidnapped in the border town of Zeta, which is located inside Syrian territory.

The sides that are seeking to carry out assassinations in Lebanon are too powerful to be thwarted by the local authorities, revealed security circles to al-Joumhouria newspaper on Thursday.

They said that these groups “are backed by major intelligence agencies that have dedicated billions of dollars for them.”

Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi revealed on Thursday that authorities released two detainees allegedly charged with forming an armed terrorist group and undermining the authority of the state, as well as having links to al-Qaida.

The two members allegedly belong to a six-member network that infiltrated Lebanon to carry out “sabotage” operations.

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.