Former MP Mustafa Alloush accused supporters of Syrian President Bashar Assad of opening fire on his house in the northern city of Tripoli at dawn Saturday.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio station (93.3), Alloush said that a group of armed men began cursing outside his home and shouting pro-Assad slogans around 1:00 am.

Syrian forces were accused of firing nail bombs Friday to disperse protesters as hundreds of thousands of people flooded streets across the country to make their voices heard to Arab monitors.

Protesters called for the ouster and prosecution of President Bashar al-Assad, whose autocratic regime has been blamed for the deaths of more than 5,000 people since pro-reform protests erupted in March.

Syria's envoy to Beirut has urged the Lebanese government to prevent cross-border arms smuggling, saying the alleged trafficking was "complementary to terrorism.”

In an interview with the Hizbullah-run website al-Intiqad, Ali Abdul Karim Ali called on Lebanon to take "serious, strict measures to end arms smuggling from Lebanon into Syria and... not give in to international pressure."

The ministerial committee tasked with following up the issue of oil and gas exploration on Wednesday referred the executive decrees prepared by the energy and water ministry to the government, which will discuss them in its January 4 session.

Briefing reporters after the committee’s meeting at the Grand Serail, Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil said: “I want to announce the good news to the Lebanese: the ministerial committees tasked with studying the oil decrees has reached an agreement and referred the decrees prepared by the energy ministry to the upcoming Jan. 4 cabinet session.”

A family dispute has erupted into heavy gunfire in the northern city of Tripoli, forcing the army to intervene to contain the situation.

OTV reported that the dispute broke out in the city’s fish market.

An explosion tore through a restaurant in the southern city of Tyre at dawn Wednesday in an alleged attempt to thwart its owner from holding New Year’s Eve celebrations and serving alcohol.

The explosion, which happened at around 5:00 am local time, was caused by a two kilogram bomb made of TNT that was left on the staircase of the seaside Tyros restaurant. There were no injuries.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun revealed on Tuesday that armed individuals had infiltrated Lebanon in the east, indirectly implying that they had arrived from Syria.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “We will support Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s position on the possession of arms in Lebanon when the time comes.”

Former premier Saad Hariri on Monday said the Arab League should seek a “no-fly zone” over revolt-hit Syria, stressing that “everything must be done” to stop what he called a “massacre.”

“The Arab League should go to the U.N. and (seek) a no-fly zone (over Syria) and if Russia vetoes (the resolution) then a joint force should be formed with Turkey,” Hariri said on the social networking website Twitter.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Monday said the remarks voiced by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in his Christmas sermon were “in line with the principles Bkirki has endorsed since the year 2000 concerning the need to accomplish national sovereignty.”

Sovereignty “can only be achieved if power is in the hand of the state,” Gemayel said in an interview on MTV.

Heavy gunfire killed more than 30 people in Syria's besieged city of Homs on Monday as newly arriving Arab League observers were urged to head immediately to one of the country's most serious hot spots.

Media reports said an initial group of 50 observers arrived in Syria Monday evening to oversee a deal aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on anti-regime dissent, while other reports said the monitors' arrival was yet to be confirmed.