BEIRUT:Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Wednesday denied reports that Lebanon was considering a ban on non-Lebanese protests after pro- and anti-Syrian regime demonstrations in Beirut turned violent over the weekend.

“Such a measure has not been discussed at all,” Charbel told The Daily Star by telephone.

The Saudi newspaper Okaz on Tuesday quoted well-informed political sources in Beirut as saying that the Lebanese government was “mulling a decision to ban non-Lebanese protests on Lebanese territory after weekend clashes between supporters and opponents of the Syrian regime.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel Wednesday denied reports that Lebanon was considering a ban on non-Lebanese protests after pro- and anti-Syrian regime demonstrations turned violent over the weekend.

The sources said the decision “comes to prevent unrest and repercussions on the Lebanese internal scene.”

Lebanese law permits demonstrations, but if the Interior Ministry believes a protest could turn violent, it asks that protesters file a request to demonstrate.

The Lebanese Army arrested at least 10 people after sticks and stones were thrown between some 200 opponents and supporters of Syria's President Bashar Assad in the Beirut neighborhood of Bir Hasan Sunday evening.

A security source has told The Daily Star that the detainees are awaiting interrogation.

The clashes came after about 2,000 people rallied outside the Syrian Embassy in Hamra in a peaceful demonstration in a show of support for Assad, who has been facing pro-democracy protests since mid-March.