March 14 MP Butros Harb lamented on Thursday that the state would turn into a dictatorship during the tenure of the new government but wished Premier Najib Miqati success despite becoming a captive of the parliamentary majority.

“You will suffer during every cabinet session and during the discussion of every issue and you will regret accepting to become a captive of (a government) capable of imposing its view on you,” he told Miqati. “The country will pay the price because it will turn into a dictatorship.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed the new government on Wednesday, saying that it has reached an “unacceptable” point because of its handling of the indictment in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

He told CNN Arabic that Syria and Hizbullah have an interest in fueling tensions in the region “because that will change the course of developments in Syria and Lebanon.”

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Bahrain of carrying out a "campaign of violent oppression" against its citizens and called for an end to abuses.

Pro-reform protesters took to the streets of Bahrain on February 14, but security forces crushed the demonstrations a month later in a bloody crackdown followed by sweeping arrests.

Syrian troops killed at least 22 people in a crackdown they launched in the flashpoint central city of Hama on Tuesday, a human rights group said.

"At least 22 people were killed in Hama and more than 80 wounded some of them seriously," Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights said on Wednesday.

Israel's military intelligence chief has said that Iran has exploited the recent unrest in the Middle East to deepen its influence throughout the region, accusing the Islamic Republic of actively intervening in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and beyond.

Maj. Gen. Aviv Kochavi told Israeli lawmakers on Tuesday that Iran was involved in planning two violent confrontations with crowds that tried to breach Israel's frontiers with Lebanon and Syria in recent months. He also said Iran, along with Hizbullah, is providing assistance to the Syrian regime in suppressing mass protests against it.

Amnesty International on Wednesday accused the Syrian regime of committing crimes against humanity during a deadly crackdown over a pro-democracy protest in a border town.

The London-based rights group urged the United Nations to take action over the assault by the security forces and army on Tall Kalakh in May, amid the protests against President Bashar Assad's rule that have swept the country.

The United States on Tuesday called on Syria to withdraw its forces from the flashpoint city of Hama at the hub of an anti-regime revolt, where residents have mobilized to keep out troops.

"We urge the government of Syria to immediately halt its intimidation and arrest campaign, to pull its security forces back from Hama and other cities, and to allow Syrians to express their opinions freely so that a genuine transition to democracy can take place," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Deputy Speaker Farid Makari hoped on Tuesday that Prime Minister Najib Miqati had not accepted to head the new government “even for three seconds”, saying that cabinet belongs to Syria and Hizbullah.

Addressing the March 8 camp, he said during the parliament session to discuss the government policy statement: “Act responsibly and don’t blame others for your problems: The Lebanese people will judge you.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has hinted of Syria’s involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 assassination, in the first Israeli official statement on the indictment that was issued by the international tribunal in the murder case last week.

"The issue is shaking up Lebanon," Barak said Monday about the arrest warrants issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon against four Hizbullah members.

Iranian Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi described the Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri as “politicized,” saying he supports a “non-politicized” international justice.

“We are keen that no one in Lebanon objects that Israel is the enemy, despite the differences over the techniques of the resistance,” Roknabadi told As Safir newspaper on Monday.