BEIRUT - Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri urged Hezbollah opposition leader Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday to lift his "siege" of Beirut, which has been the scene of fierce clashes between rival factions.

"I urge you to lift the siege on Beirut and to withdraw your armed militants," Hariri said on television, shortly after a press conference in which Nasrallah spoke out against government measures against his Shiite Muslim group.

"This is a crime that must stop immediately. We will not accept for Beirut to kneel before anyone. Beirut will not kneel," he added.

Hariri said Hezbollah had "misinterpreted" the government's decision earlier this week to probe a private communications network set up by the group and to reassign the airport security chief over allegations he was close to Hezbollah.

He said the measures were aimed at protecting the army and did not target Hezbollah.

Hariri said the two decisions should be put in the hands of the army, which both sides see as a neutral institution.

Hariri also urged the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, to agree to the immediate election of consenus candidate and army chief Michel Sleiman as president and to engage in an national dialogue under the auspices of the new president.

"The Sunni-Shiite dissension has already been ignited and we must put out the fire," Hariri said.

Nasrallah earlier charged that the government's crackdown on his group's activities was tantamount to a "declaration of war" and warned it would use its weapons to defend itself. -AP