Sheikh Mustafa al-Hujeiri revealed that he has sensed “for the first time” that negotiations to release the servicemen kidnapped from the northeastern border town of Arsal are being conducted seriously, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai on Sunday.

He told the daily: “The negotiations are heading on a good path and we hope to reach a conclusion that would please the families of the captives.”

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri who had arrived in Lebanon overnight on Friday is expected to remain in the country until the middle of next week, reported the Kuwaiti daily al-Anba on Sunday.

It did not specify which day he is set to depart Beirut.

Security forces have so far failed to arrest any major fugitives, three days into the adoption of a state-approved security plan in the eastern Bekaa region, reported the Saudi daily Okaz on Sunday.

It revealed that Hizbullah has prevented the security forces from entering the outskirts of some towns in the area because the party has “transformed them into military zones.”

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday stressed that “impunity will not be tolerated” in the case of the 2005 assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri.

“On the tenth anniversary of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others who lost their lives on that day, the Secretary-General renews his condolences to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack,” Ban's spokesman said.

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri on Saturday stressed that his political camp will not acknowledge any rights claimed by Hizbullah regarding the decisions of war and peace in the country, reiterating his call for the party to withdraw its fighters from Syria.

“We won't recognize for Hizbullah any rights that exceed the state's right to control the decisions of war and peace and that turn Lebanon into a security and military arena,” said Hariri in an impassioned speech marking the tenth anniversary of the assassination of his father, former premier Rafik Hariri.

Residents of the Lebanese coast felt a minor earthquake on Saturday afternoon.

State-run Bhannes National Center for Geophysical Research said the tremor's epicenter was in the sea off the area between Damour and Sidon.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam held talks on Saturday with Speaker Nabih Berri in Ain el-Tineh to discuss the mechanism of the cabinet and the opening of an extraordinary session for parliament.

The meeting focused on the controversial crises that the state has been passing through after the term of President Michel Suleiman ended in May.

Lebanon marks on Saturday the tenth anniversary of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated on February 14, 2005.

“They killed you, but they will never be able to kill your legacy,” Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea tweeted via his account on Twitter.

The family of abducted soldier Abdul Rahim Diab revealed on Saturday that they visited him on the outskirts of the eastern town of Arsal, describing his condition as “tragic.”

The family of Diab said in a statement that the visit occurred on Wednesday, refusing to disclose further details.

The joint security force raided on Saturday the town of Maqne in north Baalbek as the army cracked down on a narcotics factory in the region, on the third day of an unprecedented security plan.

“Following a series of raids in the al-Hammoudiyeh area and other towns, army forces discovered a factory for manufacturing drugs and seized machines and a quantity of narcotics,” the Army Command said in a statement.