Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Thursday that the rival domestic and regional camp “has an interest” in eliminating him from the political scene, noting that his “attempt to put the Christians at the heart of the Arab Spring is an additional factor in the assassination attempt” he escaped last week.

“I changed my lifestyle after the assassination attempt to prevent the perpetrators from making another bid,” Geagea said in an interview on Al-Arabiya.

A dispute in the Beirut suburb of Shiyah-Ghobeiri between the families of Fadel and al-Masri erupted into an armed clash on Thursday, leaving two people wounded, state-run National News Agency reported.

The two were stabbed with knives, the agency said.

The March 14 forces on Wednesday called for referring the attempt on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea’s life to the Judicial Council, noting that the government’s “sudden” decision to “stop providing security agencies with telecom data” represents “collusion with the criminals.”

“March 14 calls for referring the assassination attempt against Dr. Samir Geagea to the Judicial Council, given that it was part of attempts to undermine security, civil peace and stability in the country and to target the scheme of building the Lebanese state,” said a statement issued by the March 14 forces after a broad meeting held in Maarab in solidarity with Geagea.

Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday that it is Lebanon’s “sovereign right” to explore its oil wealth.

He stated before reporters: “Lebanon has the right to acquire its oil wealth through the resistance should diplomacy fail.”

The Mustaqbal bloc condemned on Tuesday that murder of al-Jadeed cameraman Ali Shaaban on Monday, calling on the government to summon the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali over the incident.

It said after its weekly meeting: “The government’s leniency over Syria’s violations against Lebanon have led to a number of deaths along the border.”

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun condemned on Tuesday the murder of al-Jadeed television cameraman Ali Shabaan while on duty near the Syrian border on Monday.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “We hope the truth behind the incident will be revealed.”

President Michel Suleiman called on Syria to investigate the deadly cross-border shooting that targeted an al-Jadeed TV crew on Monday “in order to prevent the recurrence of such attacks,” as Premier Najib Miqati urged Damascus to “hold the perpetrators accountable” and ex-PM Saad Hariri blamed Miqati’s government for “turning a blind eye to the Syrian violations.”

Suleiman telephoned al-Jadeed’s owner, Tahsin Khayyat, expressing his condolences. He also telephoned Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council chief Nasri Khouri and Lebanese Ambassador to Syria Michel Khouri, asking them to follow up on the investigations.

Al-Jadeed TV cameraman Ali Shaaban was killed on Monday in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled when he and two of his colleagues came under gunfire from the Syrian side of the border.

Reporter Hussein Khreis and cameraman Abed Khayyat managed to escape unharmed.

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Lebanon from September 14 to 16, the Vatican announced on Sunday.

The trip will mark the second to the region for Benedict, who visited Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories in 2009.

The Lebanese airspace was closed from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Friday due to rare dense fog that engulfed the country’s coast and caused low visibility.

All incoming flights were diverted to Cyprus, said Kamal Shoaib, deputy head of the Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport.