Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati denied that the northern city of Tripoli had become a military zone, saying the army will only take charge of security in it for six months to end the bloody clashes.

Announcing Tripoli a military zone “hasn't been under discussion from the beginning,” Miqati told An Nahar newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati announced Monday evening that the army will be entrusted with Tripoli's security for six months and that all security agencies in the city will be put under its command.

“During the meeting he held at the presidential palace this afternoon with President Michel Suleiman and Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, it was decided to task the Lebanese army with taking the necessary measures to preserve security in Tripoli for a period of six months and to place security forces under its command,” said a statement issued by Miqati's office.

The Phalange Party on Monday warned that the situation in the clashes-hit city of Tripoli might soon reach the “point of no return” if left unaddressed, urging security agencies not to be “lenient in implementing the security plan” and to rescue it from the hands of “gunmen and warlords in the two rival neighborhoods.”

In a statement issued after the weekly meeting of its political bureau, the party stressed its solidarity with the city's residents “who are only aspiring to live in a stable and safe environment.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat accused on Monday the leaderships of the northern city of Tripoli of destroying their city, saying that the situation there should no longer continue as it is.

He said in his weekly editorial for the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “It seems that the Tripoli leaderships are determined to destroy their city seeing as none of them have taken the necessary measures to change the status quo.”

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered on Monday the arrest of eight people, including Hatem al-Janzarli, in connection to the clashes in the northern city of Tripoli, reported the National News Agency.

It said that he also requested investigating the identity of some 60 individuals in order to take the necessary legal measures against them.

Clashes between rival neighborhoods renewed on Monday evening in the northern city of Tripoli and the army staged raids to arrest gunmen, after sniper fire wounded seven people during the day.

“The fighting has resumed on the fighting frontiers of al-Mallouleh, al-Mankoubin, al-Riva and Jabal Mohsen,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Speaker Nabih Berri has proposed a plan to salvage the northern city of Tripoli that has been engulfed in deadly sectarian clashes linked to the war raging in neighboring Syria, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.

The daily said that Berri made his proposal to Caretaker Premier Najib Miqati before his latest visit to Tehran.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati lashed out on Monday at former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, a day after the official urged the premier to “raise the voice” to stop the deadly clashes in Tripoli or leave his post.

Miqati expressed surprise in comments published in al-Joumhouria newspaper over Rifi's statements, saying that “Rifi's stance is political.”

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has blamed the recent bout of fighting in the northern city of Tripoli on the “blind hatred” between rival neighborhoods.

Such hatred grew after the twin car bombings that targeted two Sunni mosques in Tripoli last August, Charbel said in remarks to al-Mustaqbal daily published on Monday.

Former Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi on Sunday called on caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati to “raise the voice” to stop the deadly clashes in Tripoli or leave his post.

“We had previously warned the state's political and security officials over the dangerous situation that might arise from leaving things in Tripoli to the chaos of the weapons that were planted by the Syrian regime and its allies in the city,” Rifi said in a statement.