Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea stressed on Thursday that the opposition will adopt democratic measures in order to “get rid of this government and topple it as soon as possible.”

He told Voice of Lebanon radio: “This goal was set seeing as the new government belongs to Syria and Hizbullah … and it is seeking to isolate Lebanon on the Arab and international levels.”

The leadership of the March 14-led opposition is planning to hold a large-scale meeting in which former Premier Saad Hariri, who is currently in Paris, would take part ahead of the parliamentary vote of confidence session, al-Liwaa daily reported Thursday.

The newspaper said the meeting would be similar to the Bristol 2 conference and would be aimed at agreeing on the major steps that the opposition would take to confront Premier Najib Miqati’s cabinet in the parliament.

People affiliated with the deputy head of the Arab Democratic Party, Rifaat Eid, were behind the deadly clashes that erupted between Sunnis and Alawites in the northern port city of Tripoli last Friday, al-Mustaqbal daily reported.

The newspaper said Tuesday there is “tangible proof” that a group of men affiliated with Eid were behind the eruption of violence between Tripoli’s districts of Bab al-Tabbaneh that is mainly Sunni close to former Premier Saad Hariri and Jabal Mohsen whose residents are Alawites allied with Hizbullah and Syria.

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri slammed Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun saying the only people who would land in jail are the assassins of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“The only people whose fate is prison are the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and all the Cedar Revolution martyrs, and the mentally sick people who are protecting them,” Hariri’s press office said in a statement late Tuesday.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel on Tuesday denied that the meetings held recently by the March 14 forces in France were aimed at “drawing up a plan for the future,” noting that “there’s no need to agree on a plan, as coordination with former premier Saad Hariri has not stopped.”

In an interview with France 24 television, Gemayel clarified that the meeting he held in Paris with Hariri was aimed at consulting with the ex-PM on “how to deal with a government controlled by Hizbullah.”

Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Tuesday voiced his surprise over recent remarks by Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, stressing that “it is unacceptable to cross the limits of courtesy and respect in our political discourse.”

“It is surprising that such remarks were voiced by a responsible man such as General Aoun,” Miqati told reporters after the second meeting of the committee tasked with drafting the Policy Statement of the new government.

The Mustaqbal bloc condemned on Tuesday the statements of Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and those of the members of his bloc, saying that they demonstrate “the extent of their spite”.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “They unveil their vengeful intentions aimed at eliminating the other, which is an approach that has been created and perfected by Hizbullah in its political practices.”

Meetings held between top March 14 officials and former Premier Saad Hariri in Paris were aimed at finding ways to confront the new cabinet “after the constitutional coup entered its second stage,” said a high-ranking official in the coalition on Tuesday.

The March 14 forces had said that the collapse of Hariri’s cabinet in January was the result of a coup staged by Hizbullah and its allies. In remarks to al-Liwaa newspaper, the official considered the formation of Prime Minister Najib Miqati’s government as the second stage of the coup.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati said he backs calls for announcing Tripoli an arms-free city, stressing he does not differentiate between Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh districts which witnessed armed clashes on Friday.

“The situation in Tripoli is under control,” Miqati told As Safir daily published Monday. “The Lebanese army is playing its full role on the ground in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces.”

Several opposition officials have traveled to Paris to discuss with former Premier Saad Hariri the approach that the March 14 forces would take after the formation of PM Najib Miqati’s cabinet.

An Nahar daily said that among the March 14 politicians who went to France are Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, MP Marwan Hamadeh and former lawmakers Fares Soaid, Samir Franjieh and Bassem al-Sabaa.