"The army command has ordered a general mobilisation of all army units, raised to the maximum its state of alert, recalled soldiers on leave and suspended holidays," an army statement said.

"The army has taken preventive measures in various regions in order to safeguard the stability, has deployed patrols in the streets of the capital and other regions and set up checkpoints," it said.

Hariri was one of 10 people killed and about 100 wounded when a bomb ripped through his motorcade near the Beirut seafront, leaving a trail of carnage and devastation in scenes reminiscent of the 1975-1990 war.

After the attack, protesters tried to torch an office of Syria's ruling Baath Party in Beirut, but police prevented them from entering the building.

Protesters also took to the streets of Sidon, Hariri's hometown in south Lebanon, where they set tyres ablaze.

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