Al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday called for implementing a “strict” security plan in the northern Bekaa region, condemning the latest incident in the town of Btedei which left a man and his wife dead and their son injured.

“The bloc strongly condemns the heinous crime and warns of its dangerous and negative repercussions on civil peace in the country,” Mustaqbal said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

Militants from the extremist Islamic State group abducted Tuesday a retired Lebanese army soldier from the Wadi Hmeid area in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal.

He was released a few hours later after the gunmen "robbed him of his pickup truck," state-run National News Agency reported.

Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah held talks Tuesday with Defense Minister Samir Moqbel.

Nasrallah met Moqbel in the presence of Wafiq Safa, head of the party's Liaison and Coordination Unit, according to a Hizbullah statement.

MP Marwan Hamadeh resumed on Tuesday his testimony before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, focusing on Syria's hegemony over Lebanon under the premiership of slain PM Rafik Hariri and examining his ties with former President Emile Lahoud.

The ties between Hariri and MP Walid Jumblat came into prominence during the debate over the extension of Lahoud's term in 2004, prompting the STL Prosecution to reveal that it is studying the possibility of summoning the lawmaker to make his testimony before the tribunal.

The Change and Reform parliamentary bloc on Tuesday noted that interpreting Article 24 of the Constitution would clearly define the stipulations of equal power-sharing between Christians and Muslims in state institutions.

“The interpretation of Article 24 of the Constitution can lead to passing an electoral law that respects the rules of equal power-sharing and truly reflects the will of the popular components,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr handed over the head of the Free Syrian Army command council, Colonel Abdullah Rifai, to the Lebanese General Security without charging him.

State-run National News Agency reported on Tuesday that Rifai was released from custody and will be handed to the General Security after his lawyer Tareq Shandab filed a request in this regard.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Tuesday that the presidential vacuum has placed burdens on Lebanon, calling for the swift election of a head of state.

Salam, who is on an official visit to Dubai, also said the extension of parliament's term earlier this month was not the best solution to Lebanon's problems.

Electricite du Liban contract workers blocked on Tuesday two major roads near Beirut, demanding their full-time employment and the payment of their salaries, but they ended their protest after receiving promises by the labor minister to resolve their problem.

The angry workers first cut the Corniche al-Nahr road, shouting pro-Speaker Nabih Berri slogans, saying he was “defending their cause.”

The Lebanese authorities officially informed the Qatari-appointed mediator, Syrian Ahmed al-Khatib, that it had agreed on the jihadists' demand to exchange each captive with five Islamist inmates and 50 female prisoners.

According to al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Tuesday, the decision came in light of last week's crisis cell meeting.

Lebanon came in 14th place as a country most affected by terrorism in a list of 162 nations, according to a new global study.

The London-based Institute for Economics and Peace said Lebanon got a score of 6.4 and joined 8 other countries that saw increased terrorist attacks in 2013 when compared to 2012.