General Security chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim continued on Monday his efforts to release the two bishops and nuns kidnapped in Syria in April and December 2013 respectively, reported OTV.

It said that he carried out to that end talks with Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Youhanna X Yazigi.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Monday lauded the stances of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri over the cabinet formation process, describing him as a “statesman” who has put “the higher national interest” above all else.

“One must praise ex-PM Saad Hariri's stance, which came at a critical moment that Lebanon and the Arab region are going through, amid rapid changes and major transformations that are being accompanied by rivers of blood and incessant bleeding against the backdrop of unprecedented sectarian and religious divisions,” said Jumblat in his weekly op-ed in al-Anbaa.

Salafist cleric Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi accused on Monday the Arab Democratic Party of being behind the latest round of clashes in the northern city of Tripoli.

He added after a meeting of Muslim scholars in light of the new round of unrest: “The state is protecting Ali and Rifaat Eid and allowing them to launch attacks in the city.”

Phalange Party leader MP Amin Gemayel called on Monday for the formation of a cabinet capable of confronting all the constitutional deadlines in the country and overseeing the upcoming presidential elections.

“Three upcoming deadlines will decide the fate of Lebanon,” Gemayel said after talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi at Bkirki.

President Michel Suleiman hailed on Monday Saudi Arabia's grant to the Lebanese army, hoping that the international community will continue to support Lebanon's stability.

He said after a meeting with the diplomatic corps: “A national defense strategy is beginning to take shape through the Saudi grant.”

The Lebanese army freed on Monday a priest from his captors a day after he was abducted in the Bekaa, the state-run National News Agency reported.

According to the NNA, Priest Rami al-Qazzi was freed by a military unit after being kidnapped by unknown assailants on Sunday.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun hailed on Monday ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri's stance regarding the cabinet formation process, describing it as “brave.”

“Hariri's stance facilitates the formation of the new cabinet and is a foundation for also forming a new parliament,” Aoun said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad described the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as “politicized,” saying that it's only a tool to pressure Hizbullah.

"Nine years have passed since the beginning of this trial. Has justice been served? Every accusation was made for political reasons," he said on Sunday in an exclusive interview with Agence France Presse, days after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon began hearing evidence in the 2005 killing of Rafik Hariri.

The defense teams of two of the suspects accused of involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination made their opening statements on Monday, the third day of trial held at the seat of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague.

They cited lack of evidence against the accused and stressed the difficulty of their role over lack of cooperation of the Lebanese authorities and lack of time.

A horrific accident between a bus and a vehicle at the junction of Seriine town in the eastern Bekaa valley, killed two students and wounded thirteen others, the state-run National News Agency said on Monday.

The accident took place on the highway and at the junction of Seriine between a yellow vehicle and a black Range Rover Vogue, the agency added.