Saudi families returning from Syria will be provided jobs and accommodation and their children will be given education, a local Arabic daily reported yesterday quoting an informed source at the Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal urged Lebanon's people to act “wisely” and end their fighting in the city of Tripoli, wracked by a wave of bloody violence linked to the conflict in Syria.

He said the Kingdom was following “with deep concern the bloody events taking place in Tripoli ... that benefit nobody but those who do not mean well for Lebanon and its people.”

Prince Saud added: “Saudi Arabia urges all parties involved to put an end to this fighting and act wisely.” He reaffirmed Riyadh’s stand that the Lebanese state should strengthen its control over all its territories.

A new wave of Syria-linked clashes between Sunni and Alawite residents of the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli has killed eight people since the weekend.