Hizbullah vacated several apartments in the area of Abra in the southern city of Sidon, handing them over to the Lebanese army, three days after gunbattles turned the city into a battle zone.

The apartments, which lie meters from the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque compound in which Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir was a preacher, were one of the main reason for the fierce campaign launched by him against Hizbullah.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stressed on Tuesday that extending the term of the Army Commander "must not be the price for the troops' sacrifice" in the clashes of the southern city of Sidon.

"The army's sacrifice must not be a price for extending Army Commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji's term especially that we are against extension in general,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform bloc, in response to former premier Saad Hariri's suggestion.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji inspected on Tuesday military units in the southern city of Sidon as security forces launched a major manhunt for radical Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.

In the coastal city meanwhile, the army worked to consolidate its control, after troops overran Asir's headquarters on Monday afternoon.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc MP Bahia Hariri stated on Sunday the clashes in the southern city of Sidon between the gunmen of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army “aimed at stirring a premeditated sedition.”

“Today we are counting on the army more than ever and these clashes are aimed at stirring a premeditated sedition,” Hariri said in a phone call with Future television.

French President Francois Hollande warned on Sunday that Hizbullah's intervention in Syria will “definitely have repercussions on the fragile balance in Lebanon.”

“The party’s activities in the Syrian war will definitely have repercussions on Lebanon’s fragile balance,” Hollande told reporters during an official trip to Qatar.

Hundreds of citizens and civil society activists demonstrated Thursday afternoon in rejection of the extension of parliament's term, as security forces prevented them several times from crossing the barriers into Nejmeh Square which houses parliament's building.

Protesters carried banners highlighting the living conditions that the lawmakers have failed to address, such as the new rent law, and slogans against the extension of parliament's mandate, which will go into effect at midnight.

At least 18 Lebanese citizens have been expelled from Qatar, a government source in Beirut told Agence France Presse Thursday, after the Gulf Cooperation Council pledged to act against members of Hizbullah.

"Eighteen Lebanese have been expelled from Qatar, in the wake of the GCC decision," the source said on condition of anonymity, saying it was not clear if they were Hizbullah members.

Two rockets fired from Syrian territory hit on Tuesday the eastern region of Bekaa, a security source told Agence France Presse.

"Two rockets landed in the Brital countryside and the nearby Taybeh valley," the source said on condition of anonymity. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damages.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said Hizbullah intervened militarily in Syria after “gunmen” were brought into Lebanon, putting the blame on the March 14 camp and accusing it of creating a “vacuum” in Lebanon.

"We discussed the 'carnival of speeches' that is taking place today about Syria and Hizbullah, as if we have no other problems and as if we forgot the epoch that led us here," Aoun said, referring to the memo submitted by March 14 to President Michel Suleiman.

Phalange Party MP Sami Gemayel accused Hizbullah on Monday of “gambling with the Lebanese people's fate,” urging President Michel Suleiman and the cabinet to “assume their responsibilities.”

“(Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan) Nasrallah has transformed Lebanon into a battlefield instead of a democratic country,” Gemayel said after the political bureau's weekly meeting.