President Michel Suleiman on Sunday held talks with the security officials over the deadly al-Labweh incident that happened earlier in the day, urging “utmost efforts to contain the situation and arrest the perpetrators and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities.”

“Resorting to such methods, amid the breakthrough in the issue of the abductees, will further complicate things and create new problems,” Suleiman said.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday condemned as “disgraceful” the abduction of two Turkish pilots near Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport, saying they were kidnapped in a prearranged and “professional” manner amid “the absence of the state's security authorities.”

Al-Rahi warned that the operation will harm Lebanon's image, urging state officials to stop being “reckless concerning security and people's interests.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Sunday telephoned Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji and discussed with him the attack that targeted the convoy of Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi earlier in the day, the ex-PM's office said.

"Hariri stressed the need to take the measures necessary to pursue the perpetrators, noting that this incident is part of the nonstop attempts to drag the country into further tensions,” the office added.

Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi was wounded and his companion Mohammed Hasan al-Hujairi was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh on Sunday, shortly after a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.

Two other companions of the municipal chief were also injured in the attack, NNA said, noting that Mohammed's body was transported to Dar al-Amal Hospital in Douris.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stressed on Sunday that investigations are “on track” to determine the fate of the abducted Turkish pilots and ensure their release, reported Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

He told the radio: “The pilots are doing well and we hope to have positive news in the case in upcoming days.”

The army succeeded on Friday night in thwarting a suicide bomb attack against a checkpoint in the Bekaa region of Arsal, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.

It revealed that soldiers had halted the attack shortly after it stopped a Syrian, a Palestinian, and Danish citizen of Palestinian origins at the Hmeid checkpoint on the outskirts of Arsal.

Sheikh Abbas Zgheib, who has been tasked by the Higher Islamic Shiite Council to follow up the case of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria, defended the right of the relatives of the captives to target Turkish interests in Lebanon in order to pressure Ankara to release them, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anbaa on Sunday.

He said: “The relatives have every right to take any appropriate escalatory measure they see fit to harm Turkish interests in Lebanon.”

Initial reports in the kidnapping of the two Turkish pilots have found out that the abductors are professionals and not amateurs, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It explained that the high level of professionalism in the operation indicates that the captors are not relatives of the Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria's Aazaz region.

Security forces announced on Saturday arresting “one of the most dangerous fugitives” after a two-month investigation.

"After a two-month investigation, forces of the Drug Enforcement Bureau in the South and members of the central anti-drug unit were able to arrest one of them most dangerous fugitives on charges of drug dealing,” the Internal Security Forces said in a released statement.

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel said Saturday that the Lebanese authorities will protect Turkish nationals and set free a pilot and co-pilot kidnapped by gunmen a day earlier.

“We are protecting Turkish (citizens) in Lebanon in addition to all the people,” Charbel said after welcoming the Turkish Ambassador, Inan Ozeldiz, at his residence in Hazmieh.