Premier Fouad Saniora said Thursday it is the right of the Lebanese government to "participate in taking the decision to go to peace or war."

Saniora, in an interview with the Arabia Television, said Lebanese Democratic Party official Saleh Aridi was assassinated to end the role he played in coordinating efforts between Druze leaders Walid Jumblat and Talal Arslan.

"Aridi's assassination was a message that reconciliation and understanding are not allowed," Saniora said.

The assassination, Saniora said, also aimed at "sparking intra-Druze sedition and to kill the Lebanese people's hope in stability … We have to confront this trend decisively."

Saniora said the northern Town of Tripoli is now under the control of the Lebanese Army's 10th Brigade and Syrian President Bashar Assad had nothing to do with this decision."

"President Michel Suleiman left for Syria the same day a blast rocked Tripoli and I had agreed with him to call for a meeting grouping the defense and interior ministers as well as commanders of the army and security forces and we adopted the decision to deploy the 10th brigade in Tripoli."

In answering a question on the proposed Conference on national Dialogue that President Suleiman is to launch at the Baabda Palace on Sept 16, Saniora said: "We would deal objectively with Hizbullah weapons."

"It is our right to take part in the decision to go to peace or war," he added.

He said the Aridi assassination in the summer resort of Baisour on Wednesday was an attempt to "block the march to reconciliation."

The best response to the crime, according to Saniora, is "more contacts between the leaders to avert further attempts to block rapprochement and reconciliation."

He predicted that further assassination attempts "are possible. I cannot deny that. What I can confirm is that the state is determined to decisively confront such schemes."

He said the army's 10th brigade deployed in Tripoli would try to "achieve progress towards … declared Tripoli a demilitarized city."

Saniora said Israel remains a "persisting threat to Lebanon. We should be keen on not giving Israel any pretext to use" for attacking Lebanon.

Saniora concluded by stating that "I am a strong believer in dialogue and I believe the Lebanese (factions) have no other alternative but to meet and discuss.

"This doesn't mean that we would reach agreement in the first session," he noted.

He denied reports that Tripoli was a stronghold for fundamentalism and Salafi factions.