Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil met on Wednesday with his visiting Danish counterpart Martin Lidegaard who is in the region to strengthen cooperation against Islamic State extremists.

Bassil told reporters that he stressed during their meeting “the importance of building an international united front to face the spread of terrorist groups in the region.”

The relatives of soldiers and policemen held captive by Islamists since August staged a sit-in on Wednesday in Beirut's Martyrs' Square, demanding that the government exert all possible efforts to ensure the release of their loved ones.

Mustaqbal bloc MP Khaled Zahraman declared from the square: “Political exploitation of this file will not help their cause.”

The ministerial panel tasked with following up the case of abducted Lebanese soldiers and policemen is mulling all the available options in coordination with a Qatari delegation, which is negotiating the release of the hostages with Islamist kidnappers.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said on Wednesday in statements published in several local newspapers that “all options are being discussed without any exception, with negotiations at the forefront.”

The singing of a contract between France and Saudi Arabia to provide Lebanon with military assistance is being delayed over a political decision linked to the Lebanese presidential elections, Saudi sources said.

The sources told An Nahar newspaper published on Wednesday that it was up to Saudi King Abdullah to sign the contract but the delay was caused by a “political decision” linked to the outcome of the polls.

The Lebanese army upped security measures near the Rafik Hariri University Hospital after alleged photos of militants being treated at the facility were leaked, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The army also questioned physicians and nurses at the hospital to reveal the identity of the person who leaked the photos, the daily said.

Only twenty-five names submitted their nominations to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections since Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq announced the opening of the door of candidacies last week, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper said that those who wish to run in the elections must submit their candidacies before September 16.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil is scheduled to travel to Jeddah to attend talks on joint action against the Islamic State (IS) group, a cabinet minister said.

The minister, who was not identified, told al-Liwaa newspaper published Wednesday that Bassil will attend a meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and around nine Arab states in addition to Turkey.

The abductee Ayman Sawwan who hails from Bekaa's Saadnayel was freed Tuesday evening in the Bekaa town of Brital, which ended a two-day kidnap ordeal that sparked major tensions in the province and road-blocking protests in his hometown.

“Sawwan has been released and handed to army intelligence agents and he is on his way to the Ablah barracks ahead of being handed over to his family,” state-run National News Agency reported.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Tuesday told the families of the abducted troops that their kidnappers' demands are still “unclear,” describing the captors as “ferocious beasts,” as General Security chief Abbas Ibrahim announced that he will work on the case.

The premier, who met at the Grand Serail with a big delegation from the troops' families, revealed that efforts to release their sons “are underway through a Qatari mediation,” stressing that “the government gives the top priority to this crisis and will not spare any effort to reach a happy ending.”

Two rockets fired from the Lebanese-Syrian border area landed Tuesday in the outskirts of the northern Bekaa town of Hawrtaala, causing no casualties or damage, state-run National News Agency reported.

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) had earlier reported that “a rocket struck an agricultural land between the towns of Hawrtaala and Brital.”