A senior Irish aid worker has warned that Lebanon is in danger of becoming destabilised by the conflict in neighbouring Syria.

The bitter civil war in Syria has forced more than 2m people to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighbouring countries. The conflict’s death toll has reached something around 130,000 souls already.

The Lebanese government has authorised the army to take control of the northern city of Tripoli for six months following three days of sectarian clashes.

In a significant shift of policy, EU foreign ministers agreed to put the military wing of Hezbollah on the terror list following months of pressure from Washington, Israel and Britain.

Syrian authorities have beefed up security measures in Damascus as rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad urged supporters to mark the second anniversary of the country’s uprising by stepping up attacks against the regime.

France’s president has vowed his country will stand against instability in Lebanon, two weeks after the assassination of a senior Lebanese intelligence official sparked clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian groups.

Lebanese soldiers fired machine guns and rifles into the air and lobbed volleys of tear gas at hundreds of angry protesters who are trying to storm the Lebanese government headquarters in Beirut.

Three rockets have been fired at northern Israel from Lebanon, and at least two of them struck Israeli soil, Israeli military sources said.

IRISH peacekeeping troops in Lebanon have helped to open up a likely new front for food exports to the Middle East.

Talks to form a new Lebanese government have been postponed for a week.

US SECRETARY of state Hillary Rodham Clinton reassured the Lebanese people yesterday that Washington supports “voices of moderation” and will never make a deal with Syria that undermines the country’s interests.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arrived in Beirut today ahead of a critical election that could see a pro-US government ousted by the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies.

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin leaves today for a week-long visit to the Middle East and Gulf region.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel and Lebanon to “seize the moment” of relative calm and move closer to a permanent ceasefire and long-term solution to the issues that sparked a war in 2006.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called for the immediate release of the hijacked crew of a giant oil tanker – including two Britons – after the vessel anchored off the coast of Somalia.

HEZBOLLAH chief Hassan Nasrallah warned yesterday that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group was tantamount to a “declaration of war” as clashes escalated between supporters of rival political factions in the deeply-divided country.

Israeli military prosecutors have decided not to take legal action over the country’s use of cluster bombs during last year’s war in Lebanon, the army said today.

THE United Nations Security Council yesterday said it would not let the murder of a Lebanese anti-Syrian politician derail plans for a tribunal into the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Lebanese army troops unleashed barrages of artillery and tank shells today at Islamic militants in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon, witnesses and security officials said.

Sporadic fighting between Lebanese troops and al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants continued today in a northern Palestinian refugee camp as police, stepping up raids nationwide on suspected militant hideouts, made 13 more arrests.

Lebanon’s army pounded Islamic militant hideouts in a northern Palestinian refugee camp as the military tried to flush out al Qaida-linked fighters who have been hiding there.

Palestinian mediators pressed for a negotiated solution to a weeklong siege of a refugee camp in Lebanon, with the Lebanese government demanding the surrender of Islamic militants inside.

Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned Lebanon not to storm a besieged Palestinian refugee camp, calling instead for a negotiated solution.

Lebanon’s prime minister vowed to wipe out an Islamic militant group barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp, raising the prospect that the army will either storm the camp or dig in for a long siege to force its surrender.

A senior official of a radical Palestinian faction today warned that if the Lebanese army launches an assault to wipe out an Islamic militant group barricaded in a Palestinian refugee camp, it would trigger violence in other camps.

Hundreds of Palestinian civilians carrying their belongings in plastic bags trickled out of a besieged refugee camp in the Lebanon today after a truce in the fighting mostly held overnight.

Artillery and machine gun fire echoed around a crowded Palestinian refugee camp today as the Lebanese government ordered the army to finish off the Fatah Islam militants hiding there.

The UN Security Council expressed “serious concern” last night at mounting reports of illegal arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon and authorised an independent mission to be deployed quickly to assess how the frontier is being monitored.

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met Syrian government officials today for talks criticised by the White House as undermining American efforts to isolate the hard-line Arab country.

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad begins his first official visit to Saudi Arabia today, a trip that many in the region hope will help calm sectarian tensions threatening the Middle East as well as conflicts in Iraq and Lebanon.

Defence Minister Willie O'Dea has met with his Lebanese counterpart to discuss security reports warning of planned attacks on United Nations forces in Lebanon.

Minsiter for Defence Willie O'Dea is travelling to Lebanon today to assess the situation facing Irish peacekeepers in the volatile south of the country.

Cluster bombs should be banned in international conflicts, the Government warned today.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today backed an initiative by Italy to push for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah promised that his opposition alliance would intensify its campaign to bring down the Lebanese government, pledging to mount an "effective" action in the coming days.

France and Germany today urged Syria to stop supporting forces that “want to destabilise Lebanon” and the Middle East.

Thousands of Hezbollah supporters are entrenched in the heart of Beirut today, starting an open-ended sit-in with a carnival atmosphere intended to pressure the US-backed government of Fuad Saniora into resigning.

Syria suggested it may not cooperate with a planned international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri because Damascus was not consulted on the plan, according to a letter circulated at the United Nations.

With Independence Day celebrations cancelled, Lebanon was engulfed in fear and gloom today as it prepared to bury Christian leader and Cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel, whose assassination threatened to push a country in political crisis over the brink.

LEBANON’S government yesterday approved a UN plan for an international tribunal for the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri — despite the objections of the president and the resignation of six ministers.

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett today said the international community should be open to discussions with Iran and Syria to help solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis and to bolster the reconstruction of Iraq.

Lebanon's government has been thrown into deep crisis after the prime minister rejected the resignation of Cabinet ministers from Hezbollah and the allied Amal party.

Hezbollah and Amal Cabinet ministers resigned from the Lebanese government today, Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station said.