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Efforts exerted by Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam hit several roadblocks this week after fighting engulfed the northern city of Tripoli and Hizbullah's involvement in the Syrian war drew strong local and international condemnation.

A proposal to give the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance, the March 14 coalition and the centrists eight ministers each in the new cabinet collapsed after Hizbullah's involvement in the fighting in Syria, informed sources told An Nahar daily published Wednesday.

Speaker Nabih Berri is holding consultations with political foes away from media spotlight as a last attempt for reaching common ground over a new electoral law before resorting to the extension of the parliament's mandate.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, Zahle MP Nicolas Fattoush handed over to Berri a proposal on a two-year extension of parliament's tenure.

A U.S. congress delegation is scheduled to arrive in Beirut in the upcoming few days to hold talks with senior officials over the situation in Lebanon and the region.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Wednesday, the delegation will also discuss the impact of the conflict in Syria on the neighboring countries including Lebanon.

The White House on Tuesday condemned Hizbullah's "direct intervention" in the battle for the Syrian rebel stronghold of Qusayr, and slammed President Bashar Assad for seeking help from Iran.

A day after President Barack Obama called President Michel Suleiman to express concern over the role of the party in Syria, his spokesman Jay Carney amplified U.S. concerns about an expansion of the war.

The United States said Tuesday it does not differentiate between Hizbullah's armed and political wings as it again urged Europe to blacklist the group, a decision diplomats indicated could be imminent.

A formal request to brand the party as a terrorist group was filed by Britain and is to be discussed at closed-door talks June 4 of a committee overseeing the EU list of people and groups subject to its asset freezing regime, European diplomats said.

Iranians are working alongside Hizbullah fighters to back Syrian troops battling to retake the rebel stronghold of Qusayr amid fears of a civilian massacre, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

"It is the most visible effort we have seen by Hizbullah to engage directly in the fighting in Syria as a foreign force, and we understand there are also Iranians up there," a senior State Department official told reporters.

Clashes renewed in a fierce manner in Tripoli on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least four people dead and several others wounded, as the Arab Democratic Party declared an open battle and warned that it “will not let Tripoli sleep.”

The National News Agency said Mohammed Rashid Soltani, 30, was killed and two other people were wounded, identifying them as Yehia Seif Obeid, 81, and Khaled Mohammed Mohammed, 33.

Clashes renewed in a fierce manner in Tripoli on Tuesday afternoon, leaving at least four people dead and several others wounded, as the Arab Democratic Party declared an open battle and warned that it “will not let Tripoli sleep.”

The National News Agency said Mohammed Rashid Soltani, 30, was killed and two other people were wounded, identifying them as Yehia Seif Obeid, 81, and Khaled Mohammed Mohammed, 33.

Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc urged the three presidents on Tuesday to act quickly and draw an end to "Hizbullah's crimes in Syria," considering that the party is implementing the instructions of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

"We call on President Michel Suleiman, Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Speaker Nabih Berri to act quickly to stop Hizubllah's involvement in killing Syrians in (the Syrian border town of) al-Qusayr,” the lawmakers said in a released statement after the bloc's weekly meeting at the Center House.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun announced on Tuesday his readiness to have parliament vote on the Orthodox Gathering and hybrid electoral draft laws.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc's weekly meeting: “I am prepared to accept the outcomes of the votes on both of the draft laws.”

A car passenger was wounded on Tuesday as army troops opened fire on the vehicle after its driver refused to stop at a military checkpoint in the northern town of al-Awwadeh in the Wadi Khaled region, state-run National News Agency reported.

The wounded man was rushed by a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance to the Our Lady of Peace Hospital in al-Qoubaiyat, while the army arrested a man from the al-Shiban family.

Two people were arrested for their involvement in various kidnappings for ransom that had taken place in Lebanon in recent months, announced the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau in a statement on Tuesday.

It said that a Lebanese and Syrian national were arrested for the attempted kidnapping of the owner of a paper company in al-Metn.

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Tuesday the need for all Lebanese factions to adhere to the Baabda Declaration that calls for disassociating Lebanon from regional conflicts.

He called on “Lebanese powers against getting dragged into the ongoing fighting in Syria in line with the Declaration.”

The European Union stands poised to put the military wing of Hizbullah on its list of terrorist organizations after a formal request to blacklist the group was filed by a member state Monday, diplomats said.

The request from Britain formally launches a process to blacklist the group, a move that has long been requested by Israel and which will be discussed in early June, several EU diplomats told Agence France Presse.

Dozens of people, mostly combatants, have been killed in ongoing battles for the Syrian town of Qusayr, a watchdog said Tuesday, as Hizbullah sent new elite fighters to the rebel stronghold.

"At least 31 Hizbullah fighters have been killed since Sunday, as well as 68 rebel fighters, six of whom we were unable to identify," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Army commandos joined on Tuesday other military brigades seeking to impose security in the northern city of Tripoli after deadly clashes between rival neighborhoods left several people dead and injured.

The army completed the deployment before noon in the areas that witnessed heavy clashes in the past three days, said the state-run National News Agency.

Army commandos joined on Tuesday other military brigades seeking to impose security in the northern city of Tripoli after deadly clashes between rival neighborhoods left several people dead and injured.

The army completed the deployment before noon in the areas that witnessed heavy clashes in the past two days, said the state-run National News Agency.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea lashed out on Tuesday at Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, accusing him of “seeking to carry out the elections based on the 1960 electoral law.”

“The FPM's endeavors are considered a crime and the only solution to thwart its attempts is to hold a parliamentary session and vote on a new electoral law as soon as possible,” Geagea said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.

At least eight Lebanese and Syrians were injured on Tuesday after rockets hit several towns in Lebanon's northern district of Akkar from the Syrian side of the border, the state-run National News Agency reported.

NNA said the rockets hit at dawn the towns of al-Khwasleh and al-Nsoub in the area of Mount Akroum and Wadi Khaled.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel admitted on Tuesday that the authorities had miscalculated in not building camps to house Syrian refugees escaping the fighting in their country.

In remarks to Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3), Charbel said: “We should have kept Syrian refugees in tents and provided them with all the necessary humanitarian assistance and medical aid … to contain the security violators that are present among them.”