BEIRUT: Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Sunday his ministry was checking reports of an alleged plot to assassinate senior security officials, but warned that political divisions between rival factions were keeping the country on edge.

“The alleged plot to assassinate security officials are merely media reports. We are still checking these reports. We have not yet reached any results,” Charbel told The Daily Star.

He said his ministry has tightened security measures to protect security and political figures.

Asked who are the security officials targeted by the alleged assassination plan, Charbel said: “All the Lebanese are targeted.”

Earlier, media reports said that Ashraf Rifi, the head of the Internal Security Forces, and Wissam al-Hasan, the chief of the ISF’s Information Branch, were the possible targets of the alleged plot, prompting emergency measures around the ISF headquarters in the neighborhood of Ashrafieh.

Security sources said that the reported plot might have targeted either Rifi or Hasan because they regularly take that road between the Hotel Dieu Hospital and the ISF headquarters.

The interior minister said political divisions between the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance and the opposition March 14 coalition were creating tension in the country.

“Amid the political schism, there is tension on the ground. Any minor security incident could create a big problem,” he said.

However, Charbel reassured Lebanese that the security situation in the country was under control. “What was raised about a plan to target the head of the Internal Security Forces Ashraf Rifi or the head of the Information Branch Wissam al-Hasan was blown out of proportion,” Charbel told LBCI TV Saturday.

“I reassure the Lebanese that there is nothing to be afraid of and that the situation is under control,” he said. “There is fear that amid a tense political situation that a fifth column interferes ... which could lead to sectarian strife.”

Meanwhile, Tripoli’s Future MPs met Sunday at the house of MP Mohammad Kabbara in the northern city to discuss the alleged plot to assassinate Hasan. MP Ahmad Fatfat linked the alleged plot to the escalation of Syria’s brutal crackdown on protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

Speaking after the meeting, Fatfat said: “The north’s lawmakers and Tripoli’s notables met to study the [alleged] assassination attempt against Brigadier Wissam al-Hasan and the talk about a return to the cycle of assassinations. Our position is certainly to support the security forces and condemn the terrorist serials which might return to the country as a result of the escalating security ramifications in Syria.”

Fatfat said the information about the assassination attempt has been confirmed. “The interior minister has spoken about the subject ... This information has been issued by Lebanese and non-Lebanese security authorities,” he added.

Asked who could be behind the alleged plot, Fatfat said: “It seems that the executing party is a Lebanese party that could be linked to what is happening in the region and the security ramifications that happened in Syrian in the past few days.”