Beirut - Six bombs exploded in a Sunni Muslim neighbourhood of Beirut on Monday, threatening to derail a dialogue called by Lebanese leaders to bring stability to the country.

No casualties were caused, but the bombs damaged shops and cars in heavily populated Corniche al-Mazraa, an area which saw fierce clashes between pro and anti-government groups in May.

The explosions, which took place a day before the start of a national dialogue at the Baabda presidential palace, "are aimed at terrifying people," said a police officer at the scene.

Beirut - Rival Lebanese leaders on Friday mourned pro-Syrian Druze official Sheikh Saleh al-Aridi, killed two days ago by a car bomb, by vowing to unite and secure the country's stability and peace.

"We will not allow the assassination of Sheikh Saleh al-Aridi to sow the seeds of discord among the Lebanese," said pro-Syrian Talal Arslan, the head of the Druze Democratic Liberal Party, to which Aridi belonged.

Beirut - Four Syrians and a Lebanese were killed when a truck loaded with smuggled fireworks from Syria exploded Thursday near the Lebanese-Syrian border in eastern Lebanon, police said.

The truck blast came as Lebanon was still coming to terms with a car bomb explosion late Wednesday that killed a pro-Syrian Druze sheikh and wounded six others in an area southeast of Beirut.

The alleged fireworks smuggling operation came a few days after a UN team assessing the monitoring of the border said progress in fortifying it had been minimal and remained "penetrable".

"Lebanon has not yet succeeded in enhancing the overall security of its borders in any significant manner," the report said.

Beirut  - A judge in Lebanon issued Tuesday an arrest warrant for a Hezbollah militant on charges of shooting at a Lebanese army helicopter and killing an army officer.

The helicopter was hit by Hezbollah gunfire on August 28 in the Iqlim al-Touffah district of southern Lebanon after the militant group mistook it for an Israeli helicopter. The pilot, Captain Samer Hanna, was killed.

Examining Magistrate Rashid Mizher issued the arrest warrant for militant Mustafa Moqaddem.

Beirut  - Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman has set September 16 as the date for launching a national dialogue among the country's political rivals, a government source said Tuesday.

The talks will take place in the Baabda Presidential Palace and are aimed at generating a consensus between the country's major parliamentary factions - namely the Hezbollah-led opposition and the Western-backed ruling majority - on several controversial issues.

A major sticking point is the proposed disarmament of Hezbollah by the ruling majority.

Beirut - Sunni and Shiite rivals in northern Lebanon signed a reconciliation accord aimed at restoring state control to the northern port city of Tripoli, Lebanese media reported Tuesday.

For two months, the northern port city of Tripoli has witnessed sectarian fighting between Sunni militants loyal to the Western- backed ruling majority and members of the Alawiites sect who are loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition.

At least 23 people were killed in Tripoli during clashes in May between residents of Jabal Mohsen, who mostly support the radical Shiite Hezbollah movement, and those in Bab al-Tebbaneh who back the anti-Syrian ruling bloc.