The anti-regime protests in Syria may soon represent a danger to Lebanon, said The Independent’s Robert Fisk in an article published on Monday.

“Lebanese opposition leaders have been voicing their suspicions that the Baathist regime in Damascus – in an attempt to distract attention away from the Syrian popular uprising – is deliberately stirring sectarian tensions in a country which has only just commemorated the 36th anniversary of its own terrifying 15-year civil war,” he stated.

The U.S. government is preparing sanctions against senior officials in the entourage of Syrian President Bashar Assad who are overseeing a violent crackdown against protesters in the country, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday.

Citing unnamed officials, the newspaper said the administration of Barack Obama was drafting an executive order empowering the U.S. president to freeze the assets of these officials and ban them from any business dealings in the United States.

Lebanon First MP Oqab Saqr denied reports about his arrest in Syria but confirmed to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that there was “information” about a Syrian arrest warrant against him for his alleged involvement in anti-regime protests.

Saqr denied his interference in Syria’s internal affairs and urged Syrian authorities to “end the bloodbath rather than being distracted by fabrications that harm the Syrian state, authorities and institutions.”

At least eight mourners were shot dead on Saturday as Syrians swarmed the streets to bury scores of demonstrators killed in massive protests and world leaders denounced the bloodshed.

Activists said the death toll from Friday's nationwide protests could reach 100 and expected fresh protests to form after the funerals.

International condemnation of Syria mounted Saturday after its security forces reportedly killed more than 80 people in one of the bloodiest days of a month-long uprising.

Russia, Italy and Greece joined the chorus of criticism which includes U.S. President Barack Obama and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, as well as France and the European parliament.

At least five people were killed Saturday in Syrian funeral processions, including three shot dead by snipers as they marched to bury their dead in a local cemetery, witnesses said.

Snipers opened fire from roof-tops as a funeral procession made its way to a cemetery, killing at least three mourners and wounding one, a witness and a human rights activist in the Damascus suburb of Douma told Agence France Presse by telephone.

Hizb ut-Tahrir’s media official, Ahmed Qasas accused Lebanese authorities of intimidation practices “that have turned Tripoli into a military barracks.”

He told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published on Saturday: “They sought such tactics in order to deter the people from taking part in the demonstration that the party called for on Friday in support of the Syrian protests.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad must "do more, or allow others to do more" if he is going to satisfy the reform demands of the Syrian people, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Thursday.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner was responding to questions about comments from former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam, who told an Egyptian newspaper that Assad's crackdown on demonstrators will eventually lead to the Syrian leader's ouster.

Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces patrols intensified search procedures at Lebanon’s border with Syria in Akkar in an effort to thwart smuggling, reported the National News Agency on Thursday.

Witnesses informed NNA that the procedures were intensified along the al-Kabir River where Syrian border guards opened fire at individuals, who turned out to be smuggling gas across the border.

Syrian soldiers and armed security agents in plainclothes deployed across the tense central city of Homs on Thursday, taking up positions in the area on the eve of large rallies planned by Syrian anti-government activists, eyewitnesses said.

The deployment came as the Syrian president appointed a new governor for Homs after having caved in to protesters' demands to replace its top local official earlier this month.