An Iraqi national was released on Monday evening after a three-day kidnap ordeal in the Bekaa town of Brital, reported the state-run National News Agency.

"An army force raided locations where fugitives were staying in Brital and managed to free Majed al-Nashi,” the NNA said.

Three fugitives were arrested on Monday in Beirut's suburbs on charges of opening fire, the army announced in a communique.

"An army force detained Mohammed Sharif Hashem in Haret Hreik for opening fire in the Shiyyah area (in Beirut's southern suburbs),” the communique said.

Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi on Monday referred to the Judicial Council the cases of twelve deadly bombings that rocked different regions in Lebanon in the past months.

Rifi announced in a released statement that he has appointed judicial investigators at the Judicial Council to probe the “terrorist explosions.”

Prime Minister Tammam Salam announced Monday that he will not discuss the presidential vote with Saudi officials during his visit to the kingdom, denying that Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi had asked him to propose the extension of President Michel Suleiman's term.

“Al-Rahi did not ask me to convey a proposal on extending Suleiman's term and my visit to Saudi Arabia is not for discussing the presidential election, which is for the Lebanese to conduct,” Salam told reporters onboard the plane that carried him to the Gulf state.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Monday said his Paris talks with former premier Saad Hariri tackled MP Michel Aoun's presidential nomination and the fact that the Free Patriotic Movement leader has proposed himself as a “consensual” candidate.

"I demonstrated with ex-PM Saad Hariri all the aspects of the political process related to the presidential vote and we discussed all the possible solutions to the crisis and raised all the possibilities," Geagea said during a press conference in the French capital, according to a statement distributed by the LF's media department.

President Michel Suleiman on Monday asked the Constitutional Council to look into the constitutionality of the new rent law.

The state-run National News Agency reported that Suleiman requested the Council to check whether the draft law adheres to Article 19 of the Constitution.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq hoped on Monday that Emirati nationals would once again return to Lebanon “after stability in the country has been restored” due to the implementation of the government's security plan.

He said while on a trip to the UAE: “There are positive signs that the emirate may lift the advisory against its citizens traveling to Lebanon, but I have not yet received such a pledge.”

The Kataeb Party on Monday called for declaring a “parliamentary state of emergency,” urging the legislature to hold successive rounds of voting to elect a new president before the May 25 deadline passes.

“In the last few days that separate us from the end of the constitutional timeframe to elect a new president of the republic, the Kataeb Party cannot but raise the voice to demand respect for the constitution,” said a statement issued after the weekly meeting of the party's politburo.

Fatah Movement official Colonel Talal al-Ordoni survived on Monday an attempt against his life in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain el-Hilweh in the southern city of Sidon.

Three people were wounded in the bomb blast that targeted Ordoni, reported al-Jadeed television.

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale stressed on Monday the need for Lebanese officials to hold the presidential elections and avoid vacuum in the country's top post.

He said after holding separate meetings President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri: “We urge Lebanon’s leaders to conduct the presidential election on time and in accordance with the constitution.”