Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stated that the Lebanese army is performing its duties in the northern city of Tripoli “within its capabilities,” reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

He told the daily: “A security plan for the city has been put into effect. The first phase has been implemented, but the second one requires political agreement and solutions.”

Calm was restored on Saturday in the northern city of Tripoli after fierce battles erupted the night before between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.

The Lebanese army is carrying out patrols with military vehicles in the streets that separate the two neighborhoods, while Internal Security forces carried out patrols in the city's main streets and routes.

An army soldier was wounded on Friday as sniper gunfire erupted in Tripoli's Bab al-Tabbaneh, Jabal Mohsen and Syria Street, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Gunshots were heard between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen and sniper activity is taking place around Syria Street,” NNA said.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel has said that a two-stage plan to impose security in the northern city of Tripoli is entering the implementation phase.

In remarks to al-Mustaqbal daily published on Thursday, Charbel said: “The security plan for Tripoli is in two stages and is going on in full swing.”

Mufti of Tripoli and the North Sheikh Malek al-Shaar returned to Beirut on Tuesday evening, seven months after he had left the country for security reasons.

"I had no alternative but to return to Lebanon and after I received encouragements I decided to return because Lebanon needs everyone,” al-Shaar said upon his arrival to Rafik Hariri International Airport.

A teacher in the northern city of Tripoli has beaten up a student in a brutal way with the aim of “disciplining” him, a media report said on Tuesday.

“The teacher A. Kh. of the state-run Disciplinary School in Tripoli's el-Mina has asked students to brutally beat up their classmate Elie Kh,” LBCI television reported.

Libya's government summoned U.S. ambassador Deborah Jones to seek clarification over the capture by American special forces of an alleged al-Qaida operative in Tripoli, the foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.

Tripoli has said it was not informed in advance of the raid on Saturday, when Libi was snatched in broad daylight from his car in the capital.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel urged on Wednesday all powers to cooperate in implementing a security plan in the northern city of Tripoli, similar to other plans in other areas in Lebanon that are aimed at ending the phenomenon of autonomous security.

He said after a Central Security Council meeting: “The Tripoli security plan is aimed at protecting it from local and external threats.”

Unrest erupted in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday evening as grenades exploded in several neighborhoods and liquor stores were torched in the el-Mina area.

“Two people were wounded as gunshots fired from al-Qobbeh targeted Jabal Mohsen,” OTV said.

The death toll from the sinking of an Australia-bound asylum-seeker boat off Indonesia rose to 39 Monday, an official said, although it was not yet clear the number of Lebanese who died in the incident.

The boat, which was estimated to be carrying between 80 and 120 Middle Eastern asylum seekers, went down on Friday in rough seas off Indonesia's main island of Java. It was headed for Australia's Christmas Island.