The Higher Defense Council is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting at Baabda palace under President Michel Suleiman at 1:30 pm Tuesday to discuss ways at finding a safe exit for Lebanese expatriates in violence-torn Ivory Coast.

The meeting is rare since it comes at a time of a political vacuum and in the absence of a Lebanese government.

Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.N. Nawaf Salam will ask Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to deploy more U.N. troops in cities in the Ivory Coast where most Lebanese are concentrated and help them overcome the difficult conditions in the violence-torn country.

Salam told Speaker Nabih Berri during a telephone conversation that he would meet with Ban on Monday.

Peacekeepers have taken control of the airport in Abidjan as forces loyal to the country's rival presidents’ struggle for control of Ivory Coast's main city, the French military said Sunday.

France has also boosted its Licorne (Unicorn) peacekeeping mission in the cocoa-rich nation by 300 to around 1,400 troops, where part of their mission is to protect foreigners from attacks and looting amid rising insecurity.

Relatives of Lebanese expatriates stranded in civil war-torn Ivory Coast staged a sit-in Sunday in front of Lebanon's foreign ministry in Beirut, demanding a solution to the humanitarian crisis.

A number of expats who had managed to return to Lebanon also took part in the sit-in.

The United States early Sunday called on Ivory Coast strongman Laurent Gbagbo to step down immediately, saying he was pushing the West African nation into lawlessness.

"The United States calls on former President Laurent Gbagbo to step down immediately," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement.

Speaker Nabih Berri condemned criticism directed against the policy that was used in addressing Lebanese expatriates in the Ivory Coast given the dispute between President Laurent Gbagbo and incumbent President Alassane Outtara.

He told An Nahar in remarks published on Sunday: “Lebanon’s decision to stand by Gbagbo was right because tens of thousands of expatriates in Abidjan live in areas that he controls.”

Mass graves have allegedly been found in western Ivory Coast as a picture emerged Saturday of carnage amid fierce post-election battles, which the ICRC said claimed 800 lives in a single day.

The government of internationally recognized president Alassane Ouattara said numerous mass graves had been found, "especially in Toulepleu, Blolequin and Guiglo, whose authors are none other than the loyal forces, mercenaries and militias of Laurent Gbagbo."

A Middle East Airlines plane that was scheduled to evacuate Lebanese from conflict-torn Ivory Coast on Saturday morning was delayed again to guarantee the flight’s safety, Voice of Lebanon radio station reported Saturday.

The MEA flight will now leave on Saturday night rather than 8:00 am, it said after authorities in the African country opened air traffic.

Lebanese expatriates in strife-torn Ivory Coast feared for their lives on Friday after reports of heavy fighting near strongman Laurent Gbagbo's residence and presidential palace in Abidjan where there are 20,000 Lebanese.

Gunmen have looted the shops and businesses belonging to Lebanese in several cities, Beirut media reported. But Ambassador Ali Ajami confirmed to Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami that the more than 50,000 Lebanese in the African country were so far safe.

The Lebanese Ambassador to the Ivory Coast Ali Ajami stressed on Tuesday that the situation in the African country is “getting more complicated as the political and security situations are unstable.”

He added to Voice of Lebanon radio on Tuesday that the Lebanese expatriates are being robbed, saying that several of them have already left the country.