Prime Minister Tammam Salam has stressed that the jihadists, who have taken Lebanese soldiers and police hostage, have not made clear demands and revealed that a Qatari negotiator's mission has been so far fruitless.

“There is nothing new except for the Qatari envoy who has held several rounds of negotiations that have not yet yielded results,” local newspapers quoted Salam as telling his visitors.

Police and the army have arrested Lebanese, Gulf and Syrian nationals having hundreds of thousands of dollars in their possession for the purpose of buying arms, As Safir daily reported on Monday.

The ISF arrested a couple of weeks ago a Lebanese man in the northern city of Tripoli. He had 200,000 dollars in his possession, it said.

An unknown assailant tossed a hand grenade on Sunday night toward an army checkpoint in al-Mitein in Tripoli, hitting the outer wall of the position and causing no injuries, reported the National News Agency.

Afterwards, NNA stated that: “The army closed the roads of al-Rifa, al-Omari and al-Hariri project in Tripoli as a precaution after a hand grenade was thrown at its position in al-Mitein.”

Ousama Mansour and Shadi al-Mawlawi will be evacuating in the next few hours a mosque they used to frequently go to, and that is after efforts by the clerics of Tripoli.

“During the next few hours Abdullah bin Masood mosque in Bab al-Tabbani will be evacuated,” the National News Agency said.

Kurds demonstrated on Sunday afternoon in Beirut in solidarity with the Syrian town of Kobane, which has repelled for months a siege by the Islamic State jihadist group.

The Islamic State controls about 40 percent of Kobane so far.

A shootout broke out on Sunday as the army carried out a raid against Syrian refugee encampments in the northern region of Akkar, reported the National News Agency.

It said that Syrian suspect Fouad al-Aarour was seriously wounded in the shootout that took place at the encampments on the outskirts of the town of Aidamoun.

The municipality of the northern Akkar region of Fnaideq criticized on Sunday the media campaign “aimed at tarnishing its image” in light the army defection of Abdul Qader Akkoumi, who hails from the area, reported the National News Agency.

The municipality explained in a statement that Akkoumi “suffers from mental problems and has not been part of the army for about three months.”

Speaker Nabih Berri traveled to Geneva to attend a parliamentary conference as media reports said Sunday he may make a stop in Italy to hold talks with Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi.

The daily An Nahar said that the speaker is set to return to Lebanon on Friday and may travel to Rome, which Hariri and al-Rahi are currently visiting.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji is scheduled to travel to the United States to attend several meetings on combating terrorism, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

It said that the military chief will participate in meetings throughout next week with leaderships specialized in counter-terrorism.

Lebanese soldier Abdul Qader Akkoumi has announced his defection to the Islamic State jihadist group, according to an internet video circulated on Saturday.

“I announce my defection from this 'apostate, crusader army',” Akkoumi says in the video as he displays his military ID in front of the camera.