Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Tuesday that Lebanon would not yield to internal and external pressure to change its policy of dissociating itself form the Syrian crisis.

In remarks to Ad-Diyar newspaper, Berri expressed regret that four Gulf countries have advised their citizens not to travel to Lebanon, hoping that such a decision was not part of the pressure exerted on Lebanese officials to change their policies towards Syria.

The March 14 opposition coalition is planning to hold a large-scale meeting in an effort to end “the dictates of the Syrian regime” following deadly clashes that have left several people dead in Beirut and the northern port city of Tripoli.

Contacts have been made between the March 14 leaderships since the latest incidents erupted, An Nahar daily reported Tuesday.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reiterated on Tuesday that the government should resign and be replaced by a neutral cabinet over the recent deadly clashes that shook Beirut and the northern port city of Tripoli.

In remarks to al-Mustaqbal newspaper, Geagea said: “The solution would be for the government to leave immediately and be replaced by a neutral cabinet.”

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour held talks on Tuesday with diplomats of three Gulf countries that have called on their citizens to leave Lebanon in his ongoing effort to persuade them to review their decisions.

The current security tension in Lebanon is provisional and does not require such decisions, Mansour reportedly told the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait.

Two rockets were fired on Monday in Tripoli, one landing in Jabal Mohsen and the other between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh, a security official told Agence France Presse, as roads were blocked in several areas to protest the shooting death on Sunday of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in Akkar.

The explosion of rockets did not cause any injuries, the official said.

Beirut MPs commended on Monday the clashes that erupted in the city on Sunday, accusing some powers and military agencies that are affiliated with the Syrian regime of seeking to create instability in Lebanon.

They said after an extraordinary meeting at the Center House: “We demand Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s resignation because his government is facilitating the return of the civil war.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Monday that the swift investigation into the death of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed demonstrates the need to support the army.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “The army should be supported in order to avert sliding into strife.”

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly voiced on Monday concern over the violence that has occurred in Lebanon recently, including in Tripoli last week and over the weekend that in Akkar which led to the deaths of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Merheb and those subsequently here in Beirut.

He said in a statement: “It is important that there be no further repetition of such violence and that the incidents that have occurred be fully and thoroughly investigated.”

The muftis and clerics of Akkar on Sunday stressed that they will not allow any side to stir a strife between citizens and the military institution and called for a general strike across Lebanon, following the shooting death of Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed at an army checkpoint in the Akkar town of al-Kweikhat.

“We call for a general strike tomorrow across Lebanon and for three days of mourning over the slain sheikh,” said a statement issued by Akkar’s muftis and clerics.

A half marathon is scheduled to be held in the northern city of Tripoli on Sunday under the title of rejecting war and strife, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

The marathon, organized by the “together Lebanon” group, was expected to be held last weekend, but the security situation in the city forced its postponement due to the clashes that broke out between the rival neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen.