Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal called on the army on Saturday to “correct its performance”, threatening to issue a fatwa that calls for jihad against those “slandering Sunnis”.

“We urge the army to change its path to preserve the country' security,” al-Shahhal said in a press conference during which he commented on Friday's incident in the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar.

Several roads were blocked on Friday in the northern city of Tripoli in protest at a dispute that erupted between army troops and the bodyguards of Salafist cleric Dai al-Islam al-Shahhal in the Bekaa town of Majdal Anjar.

“An army patrol arrested one of al-Shahhal's bodyguards for carrying a visible weapon in Majdal Anjar,” OTV quoted a military source as saying.

The Army Command announced on Thursday that it had arrested a suspect who confessed to tossing explosives in the northern city of Tripoli.

It said in a statement that it had arrested Ahmed Bassam al-Jajatiyeh, who confessed to being tasked by Z.S. to toss hand grenades and dynamite sticks in the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in order to create tensions.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi stated on Friday that the residents of the northern city of Tripoli will remain in his heart and prayers after the unrest that had frequently plagued the city in the past.

He said: “We pray that the city will enjoy security and safety in order for it to preserve its diversity.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is expected to hold a mass on St. Maroun day in the northern city of Tripoli, media reports said on Wednesday.

Al-Rahi will head to Tripoli on Friday afternoon as the mass will be held at St. Maroun Church.

The Lebanese army found on Friday a bomb in the neighborhood of Abi Samra in the northern city of Tripoli.

The bomb was located in a metal box which contained home-made nail bombs, two detonators and an explosive chemical matter, the army said in a communique.

Two stun grenades exploded on Wednesday in Abu Samra neighborhood in the northern city of Tripoli and the army found another unexploded shell in the region, the National News Agency reported.

“The explosions were followed by heavy gunfire in Abu Samra,” the NNA added.

Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami urged the state on Saturday to put an end to arms proliferation following an attack on his convoy in the northern city of Tripoli.

In remarks to visiting delegations, Karami played down Friday's assault that erupted after gunmen from the neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh demanding the release of Islamists held in Roumieh prison clashed with his bodyguards and then tossed a grenade at the convoy, setting a four-wheeler on fire.

The Central Security Council convened at the Serail of the northern city of Tripoli on Friday after the attack on Youth and Sports Minister Faisal Karami's convoy.

A statement issued by the Prime Minister's office said Najib Miqati asked Interior Minister Marwan Charbel to chair the “emergency meeting to take the appropriate measures.”

A car part of Sports and Youth Minister Faisal Karami's convoy was engulfed in flames on Friday following a grenade attack in Azmi street in the northern port city of Tripoli as families of Islamist detainees held a sit-in to protest the ongoing detention of the men, as his father former Premier Omar Karami slammed the “lack of security” in Lebanon.

“I was heading to Friday prayers when the incident took place,” Karami told LBCI channel.