Hizbullah denied on Thursday accusations by the Libyan Foreign Ministry that it was sending fighters to aid insurgents in the rebel-held port city of Misrata.

"Hizbullah denies this accusation and maintains that all such talk is unfounded," said a brief statement released by the party, a staunch ally of Iran.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati stressed on Friday the need for political forces in Lebanon to calm their political rhetoric given the instability in the Arab world.

He said before his visitors in the northern city of Tripoli: “The rhetoric harms the Lebanese people because it is involving them in disputes with fraternal states that have stood by Lebanon and the Lebanese during the hardships they have endured.”

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed on Friday that any project outside the state has failed.

He said at a popular rally before tens of thousands of supporters at the end of his three-day visit to Tripoli: “Every sect in Lebanon that has pursued its own agenda has failed … all agendas established alongside the state have only brought about tragedy and destruction in Lebanon.”

A meeting between Premier-designate Najib Miqati and representatives of the March 8 alliance’s leaders did not make major progress on resolving the cabinet formation deadlock, media reports said Friday.

Miqati met on Thursday with the Free Patriotic Movement leader’s envoy, Caretaker Minister Jebran Bassil, and the assistants of the Hizbullah leader and the speaker, respectively Hussein Khalil and MP Ali Hassan Khalil.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Thursday called on the Hizbullah-led camp to start implementing "the provisions of the Taef Accord, especially the clause stipulating that only the Lebanese State can possess weapons."

After a lunch banquet he threw at the Quality Inn Hotel in honor of the journalists of Tripoli and the North, Hariri noted that the rival camp "must bear the responsibility" should it decide to halt Lebanon's financing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri began his three-day visit to the northern city of Tripoli on Wednesday by meeting a number of officials from the city, saying before the visiting delegations that the March 14 camp will work on empowering the state.

He said that it aspires for the state to have the decision of war and peace and maintain the people's security and stability.

Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri is scheduled to hold meetings with al-Mustaqbal leaderships and supporters in the northern port city of Tripoli on Wednesday.

As Safir daily said Hariri went to Tripoli on Tuesday night and is expected to reside at the Quality Inn hotel for three days.

Hundreds of angry protesters took to the streets in the northern city of Tripoli Tuesday, burning tires and blocking roads in protest against Tawheed Movement leader Wiam Wahhab's recent remarks on Saudi women.

Around 500 protesters gathered and chanted "There is no God but God" and "Wiam, you pig; you should be chained down."

A prominent Brazilian cosmetic surgeon has revealed that he operated on Libyan leader Moammer Gadhafi 16 years ago to give him a more youthful look.

"Gadhafi insisted on an imperceptible operation," said Liacyr Ribeiro, 70, who worked in two Rio clinics and is also said to have performed cosmetic surgery on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati announced that the new government is ready, but he is still pursuing negotiations because he does not want to cause a dispute with anyone, reported Al-Akhbar Saturday.

He added: “The reasons that drove me to run for the premiership are the same ones that are driving me to continue in my mission.”