Two men were attacked on Tuesday after their car entered the Tripoli neighborhood of Jabal Mohsen, state-run National News Agency reported, a day after a Jabal Mohsen resident was stabbed and beaten up in al-Qobbeh.

“Gunmen assaulted the two citizens Mohammed Fatfat and Shadi al-Jaam as their car was passing through Jabal Mohsen,” NNA said.

The al-Qaida's North Africa branch mourned on Tuesday the death of the “emir” of the al-Qaida-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades Majed al-Majed, considering that he had traveled to Lebanon to “defend Sunnis.”

"Today, we say goodbye to a brave leader and to an honorable man who spent his days in jihad to defend vulnerable Muslims,” a statement released by AQIM (al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb) stated.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday warned that any cabinet line-up that does not respect the constitution and coexistence among the Lebanese would be considered “illegitimate.”

“Any cabinet formed in contravention of the constitutional, legal and coexistence norms – regardless of the intentions that pushed for its formation – will be illegitimate, and the bloc's stance will be decided accordingly,” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabieh.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged on Tuesday the president and the prime minister-designate not to waste any time and use their authorities to form a neutral cabinet.

In remarks to the Central News Agency, Geagea said President Michel Suleiman and Premier-designate Tammam Salam should “not waste any additional time and use their constitutional authorities to form a neutral government (that excludes) the March 8 and 14 alliances.”

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora met on Tuesday with Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, who expressed readiness to help Lebanon overcome its crises.

A statement issued by Saniora's press office, said the lawmaker thanked the Emir because “the state of Kuwait has always stood by Lebanon in all stages and has supported Lebanon and the Lebanese people at all levels.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi announced on Tuesday that a national pact will be issued after the monthly meeting of the Council of Maronite Bishops on February 5.

“The accord will focus on three constituents, which are the national principles, concerns and priorities,” al-Rahi said.

The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that it has arrested two suspects and seized weapons and ammunition from them in the area of Hrabta near the eastern city of Baalbek.

An army unit apprehended on Monday Hassan Ahmed al-Meqdad and Hassan Ali al-Meqdad, who is wanted on an arrest warrant for involvement in a shooting, the military said in a communique.

A 38-year-old first adjutant at the Internal Security Forces was killed on Tuesday and a sergeant severely wounded after their military vehicle slid off into a valley in Qartaba, in north of Beirut.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the flip over was caused by landslide due to the heavy rain.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon continued on Tuesday hearing the testimonies of witnesses linked to the February 14, 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Firefighter at the Bashura sector in the Beirut Fire Department Khaled Toubaili continued the testimony he had started on Monday during which he recounted the details of the firefighting operations at the scene of the blast in Beirut.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed on Tuesday for the 9th time a parliamentary session dedicated to tackling several controversial draft-laws over lack of quorum.

Berri set the new day to March 4.