BEIRUT: Two rival Lebanese officials almost came to blows live on television Monday night after the two had an argument over the crisis in Syria.

Mustapha Alloush, an official in the Future Movement, and head of the Baath Party in Lebanon former Cabinet Minister Fayez Chukor, had to be held apart by Walid Abboud, host of the late night MTV program"Bimawdouia," after the two traded accusations and insults.

The argument between the two had centered on statements by Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Chukor said Alloush, who said he did not believe Assad, should be ashamed of himself for having expressed disbelief in the Syrian president.

“Shame on you for having said shame on me,” Alloush replied, later adding: “I don’t believe him because he is a liar.”

“You are the liar, and your master is a liar,” Chukor responded, in an apparent reference to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the head of the Future Movement, who has voiced strong criticism of Damascus over the crackdown on protesters in that country.

The two traded further accusations and then hurled insults which led to Chukor throwing his glass of water at Alloush.

Now on their feet, the two circled the table they’d been sat at moments earlier and almost came to blows hadn’t Abboud stepped in, restraining Chukor, who was about to lob his chair at Alloush.