President Michel Suleiman told the Mufti of Tripoli and the north Sheikh Malek al-Shaar on Friday that he is following up on the alleged threats the clergyman is receiving and that made him decide to extend his stay in Europe.

"I have been contacted by several officials advising me not to return to Lebanon,” al-Shaar told the Central News Agency, revealing that among the callers was Interior Minister Marwan Charbel.

The United States is deeply concerned with the continued violence in the northern city of Tripoli and “attempts to spark violence” in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadideh neighborhood, said the U.S. Embassy via Twitter on Friday.

“We call on all parties to exercise restraint and respect for Lebanon’s stability and security,” it said.

Army units continued their deployment in the northern city of Tripoli on Friday as they requested the residents to cooperate with them in informing them of any suspicious activity in the area.

The Army Command had described the last round of fighting on Thursday night as the worst the city had seen in years.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati called for a meeting of the Higher Defense Council in Baabda on Sunday to discuss the security situation in the northern city of Tripoli following consultations with President Michel Suleiman.

Following a telephone conversation with Suleiman, who is in Greece, and “in his capacity as deputy head of the Higher Defense Council, PM Miqati decided to call for a meeting at 10:00 am Sunday at the presidential palace in Baabda,” said a statement issued by the premier's office.

Clashes renewed on Thursday in the northern city of Tripoli after a three-day violence linked to the conflict in neighboring Syria, with the death toll reaching 11 as an investigation has been launched in the matter.

Thirty-nine-year-old Hassan Abaydo was shot in the heart by a sniper in the Alawite area of Jabal Mohsen, Agence France Presse reported.

Several Lebanese men arrested in a deadly ambush in the Syrian town of Tall Kalakh will not be handed over to Lebanese authorities and will be tried in Damascus instead, An Nahar daily reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said that around three of the armed men, who mostly hail from North Lebanon, were arrested in the ambush made by Syrian regime forces last week while 14 of them were killed as they infiltrated Tall Kalakh to fight alongside the Free Syrian Army.

The Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar announced on Wednesday that he will not be returning to Lebanon from a trip to Europe after he has allegedly received death threats.

Radio Voice of Lebanon (93.3) said that the northern Mufti has been advised to stay abroad, in fear of an assassination attempt against him.

The March 14 General Secretariat accused on Wednesday the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad of fueling the unrest in the northern city of Tripoli.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The regime's determination to spark unrest in Tripoli must be confronted by a radical solution by the state and its security and military forces.”

Clashes renewed on Wednesday evening in the rival Tripoli neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen after a brief lull, as the army made contacts with the warring parties and fired back at the sources of gunfire, especially sniper fire.

An Energa-type rifle-launched grenade fell in the vicinity of al-Mallouleh area and was followed by an exchange of gunfire between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, LBCI television reported.

Two men were killed on Tuesday by sniper gunshots during clashes between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh regions in the northern city of Tripoli.

“The bullets that killed Mohammed Ibrahim, 65, were shot from al-Qobbah region,” a military source told Agence France Press, adding that the army is now firing back at the sources of the gunshots.