BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri warned Tuesday against attempts to use south Lebanon as “a platform to settle regional and international scores” – a clear allusion to Syria’s confrontation with Western states which have intensified pressure on Damascus to stop its violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters demanding the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Separately, Hariri said last week’s bomb attack on a UNIFIL patrol that wounded five French peacekeepers was “a Syrian message” from Assad through his allies in Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah renewed their support for UNIFIL’s role in southern Lebanon, days after three major security breaches threatened to destabilize the volatile region amid attempts to use the border area as a base for sending political messages.

Hariri, speaking to his supporters on the popular social networking website Twitter, said the security incidents that happened in Lebanon have raised big questions from the public about those responsible for them.

“The government seems to be in a coma, ignoring what happened or even hiding the truth,” he said.

Referring to the roadside bombing that targeted French soldiers serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon near the southern port city of Tyre last week, Hariri said: “Such matters do not happen just like that. It is a Syrian message from Assad through his friends in Lebanon.”

Asked about the possibility of Syria using Lebanon as an arena for negotiations, Hariri said: “This was in the past. Soon this regime in Syria will fall.”

Tension rose in south Lebanon after a rocket launched from the region toward Israel fell short of its target, seriously wounding a Lebanese woman Sunday night. The rocket launch came two days after the attack on UNIFIL and nearly two weeks after rockets fired from the south hit northern Israel in the first such attack in two years, causing no casualties.

These incidents raised fears of military escalation in south Lebanon against the backdrop of Arab and European economic sanctions on Syria for refusing to halt its crackdown on protesters.

They also came amid rising concerns that the nine-month turmoil in Syria could spill over into Lebanon, where the rival Lebanese factions are sharply divided between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime. While the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance supports Assad, the opposition March 14 coalition led by the Future Movement openly backs the Syrian popular uprising.

The Future bloc expressed its concern over the “terrorist attack” on the French peacekeepers and the firing of the rocket at “a suspicious and dangerous timing.”

“The Future bloc reiterates its condemnation of attempts to drag Lebanon to a situation it does not want in such a way as to keep it away from serving its national cause in boosting the solidarity of its people, protecting its soil and defending its territory against the [Israeli] enemy by the legitimate security and military forces entrusted with protecting the country,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

“The bloc stressed that the Lebanese people and the residents of the south, who have sacrificed for the liberation of the occupied territory, will not accept a return to the practice of using them as a platform to settle regional and international scores or a mailbox to send letters to any party whoever it is,” the statement said.

It called on the government to exert, through the military and security forces, all necessary efforts to uncover “those who are committing those terrorist and subversive acts which harm the country and its stability.”

“In this respect, the bloc sees that the Lebanese people and the residents of the south, backed by the Lebanese military and security forces, are called upon to stand united in facing attempts to use Lebanon by any party whoever it is. In this context, the bloc calls on these military and security forces to boost their efforts for protecting our people in the south and bolstering their steadfastness,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas discussed the developments in the south during a meeting Tuesday with Berri who reiterated his support for the U.N. force’s role.Berri said the attack on UNIFIL was an attack on the people, the army and the resistance – the tripartite equation adopted by the government as the best means to defend Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack.

“In fact, what happened recently targeted the triangle that protects Lebanon: the people, the army and the resistance,” Berri said in a statement after meeting Asarta. “Therefore, it is not enough for Lebanon and officials to make statements. We have to work as a people, army and resistance in addition to UNIFIL, and alongside it, to safeguard the south and, in its heart, Lebanon,” he added.

A source close to Berri said the speaker told Asarta that the south was like “a private swimming pool” confined to the Lebanese Army, UNIFIL and the Lebanese. “No one else is allowed to play with it,” the source quoted Berri as saying.

According to the source, Berri assured Asarta that the Lebanese Army and security forces will take security measures “to prevent the south from becoming a theater of chaos.”

Asarta will meet with Prime Minister Najib Mikati Wednesday to discuss the security situation in the south following the rocket launch and the attack on UNIFIL.

A senior Hezbollah official also renewed the party’s support for UNIFIL’s role. “Hezbollah’s stance on UNIFIL has not changed. The party’s relations with UNIFIL are more than good,” the official told The Daily Star.

However, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea blamed Hezbollah for the security incidents in south Lebanon.

“Hezbollah is directly or indirectly responsible for the operations carried out against UNIFIL. Therefore, the party is responsible for the fate of the south,” Geagea told a news conference at his residence in Maarab, north of Beirut.

“In the south, the real authority belongs to Hezbollah and the real security presence in the south is for Hezbollah,” he said.

“We all know that Hezbollah is responsible for all the incidents that happen in the south. Terrorist groups accused of carrying out these operations cannot exist in the south without Hezbollah’s knowledge or its cover,” Geagea added.

Hezbollah and Syria denied Monday French accusations that they were behind the UNIFIL attack. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Sunday that Syria was probably behind the attack, but added that he had no proof.