ABRA, south Lebanon: Salafist Sheikh Ahmad Assir warned during his sermon in Sidon, south Lebanon, Friday that he would personally deal with the problem of armed Hezbollah members monitoring his movements.

Armed and accompanied by his supporters who were also carrying weapons, Assir walked around the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque where he holds Friday prayers, saying "someone is going to attack me."

“We are determined to empty the apartments inhabited by Iran’s party [Hezbollah] even if we have to do it by force,” Assir warned from Bilal Rabah Mosque in Abra, east of Sidon.

The controversial sheikh said he was being kept under surveillance by armed Hezbollah members occupying at least two apartments surrounding the Abra mosque.

Hundreds of Lebanese Army soldiers and riot police were deployed around the apartments following rumors that Assir wanted to storm them.

Assir threatened that thousands of men from various Lebanese regions were willing to join him in the operation to drive out the Hezbollah fighters from these apartments.

Around 1,000 worshipers attending the noon prayers at Bilal Rabah Mosque shouted insults against Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah.

Assir, however, gave authorities a chance to do something about the Hezbollah issue.

“This is a last warning, if Hezbollah members did not evacuate the apartments, we will storm them ourselves,” he warned.