President Michel Suleiman on Sunday held talks in Kuwait with Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah on “strengthening the brotherly and special bilateral ties” between the countries and “the latest developments in the region and the world,” Kuwait’s state-run news agency KUNA reported.

Suleiman, who arrived in Kuwait at noon Sunday, was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Samir Moqbel.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Sunday said his party has agreed to take part in national dialogue to underline that “we will not tolerate the continued presence of illegal arms outside state control.”

“We in the Phalange Party have supported the president’s call for dialogue, despite our awareness of the current negativities in the country and the other camp’s intentions, in order to create a national environment that allows the state to address people’s concerns away from the major political conflicts,” Gemayel said in a speech during the inauguration of a party office in the Batroun town of Kfar Abida.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi urged on Sunday the government to be up to the task of facing challenges in Lebanon.

He stressed during his Sunday sermon “the importance of national dialogue given the political, security, economic, and social situation in the country.”

Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn stated on Sunday that the developments in Tripoli are jeopardizing Lebanon’s security stability.

He stressed in a statement: “The security plan that has been devised for the city will be implemented in full.”

The head of the Organization of Islamic Conference Akmaluddin Ihsan Oglu warned on Sunday of “dangerous developments” should the violence in Syria continue.

He voiced fears that Lebanon may once again slip into civil war should the crisis in Syria persist.

A school teacher, who has been accused of sexually harassing 11 underage school girls, has landed in hospital after crashing his car, reported LBC television on Saturday.

The teacher, identified with the initials B.S., is being kept under heavy judicial and security protection in a Jounieh hospital.

Syrian pressure on Prime Minister Najib Miqati is increasing on a daily basis and the Tripoli clashes have been provoked by the Syrian regime, a French source told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published on Sunday.

It said: “The situation in Tripoli favors the Syrian regime.”

Turkey has requested that Lebanon reduce its “media uproar” over the 11 Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria nearly two weeks ago in order to allow it to resolve the case, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Sources monitoring the situation stated that the abductors chose to raise their demands for the release of the captives once they noticed the great media and political attention the case has been receiving.

The army on Sunday announced that it has completed its deployment in Tripoli’s Syria Street and all neighborhoods in Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen, as the Internal Security Forces stressed they “will not be tolerant with anyone anymore,” after 15 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in fierce street clashes.

Army units “deployed in all the neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in addition to Syria Street, contrary to what some media outlets reported, while other units belonging to the ISF will deploy later in these areas,” said a statement issued by the Army Command in the afternoon.

Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami called on Saturday the cabinet to hold an extraordinary session to confront the ongoing “farce” in Tripoli, the National News Agency reported.

“The government should unleash the security forces in order to control the situation by force and to disarm the militias,” Karami said.