The death toll of last week's deadly bombing in the Beirut's southern suburb of Haret Hreik rose to five as Al-Manar TV journalist Abbas Karnib succumbed to his wounds on Monday.

Karnib, who had worked for more than 20 years in the TV station, was submitted to Bahman hospital after being critically injured in the head.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour noted on Monday that valuable information was lost with the death of the “emir” of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, Majed al-Majed.

He said: “His death is a blow to justice.”

Customs agents at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport foiled on Monday an attempt by a Lebanese national to smuggle 4 kilograms of cocaine into the country, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The 49-year-old man, who was identified by his initials A. D., who was returning to Beirut from Cyrpus was detained and referred to the Anti-Drug Bureau.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea reiterated on Monday his rejection to the formation of an all-embracing cabinet, stressing the importance of carrying out the presidential elections on time.

“We are passing through a delicate stage and only five months separate us from the presidential elections deadline... The only reasonable thing is to form a cabinet that aims at achieving Lebanon's highest interest without March 8 and 14 alliances,” Geagea said in an interview with al-Akhbar newspaper.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat had recently revived talks over the possible formation of a 24-member cabinet that would see each of the political camps obtain eight ministers, reported As Safir on Monday.

He had recently made the proposal to Speaker Nabih Berri who explained that such a cabinet would be formed along with reaching a political settlement and the resolution of various disputes that would appease all sides.

Pope Francis expressed readiness to visit Lebanon during a trip planned to the Holly Land, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Monday.

According to the daily, contacts are ongoing with the Vatican to convince the pontiff to make a brief visit to Beirut during his first trip to the Holy Land, visiting Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem in May.

Several prominent March 14 politicians and media figures, who oppose Syria's regime and its ally Hizbullah, have been threatened, the state-run National News Agency reported on Sunday.

The report comes less than a fortnight after a car bombing in central Beirut killed eight people including anti-Syria former finance minister and member of the March 14 coalition Mohammed Shatah.

A top Hizbullah official on Sunday warned that the Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are "present in Lebanon," noting that the best response to the bombings that are hitting Lebanon is the "speedy formation of a national unity cabinet."

“Ever since we went to Syria to confront the takfiri terrorism, we have managed to rein in the crimes of these takfiri terrorists,” Hizbullah Executive Council deputy head Sheikh Nabil Qaouq said during a memorial service in the South for Malak Zahwi and Iman Hijazi, who were killed in the Haret Hreik bomb attack.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut on Sunday again warned U.S. citizens not to travel to Lebanon, urging those already in the country to avoid hotels, shopping centers and public events.

“Following recent bombings in Beirut and other instances of violence that have occurred in Lebanon in recent months, the U.S. government strongly urges U.S. citizens in Lebanon to exercise extreme caution and to avoid hotels, western-style shopping centers, including western-style grocery chain stores, and any public or social events where U.S. citizens normally congregate,” said a security message issued by the U.S. State Department and published on the embassy's website.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reiterated on Sunday that rival officials should engage in dialogue to confront the security dangers and political crises gripping the country.

He said in his Sunday sermon during mass he held in Bkirki that he “prayed for stability in Lebanon, which on the second day of New Year fell in grief over the Haret Hreik bombing.”