The captors of the Lebanese troops and policemen threatened Sunday to murder seven of them if Lebanese authorities enforce recent life imprisonment sentences against a number of Islamist inmates at the Roumieh prison.

“The wife of the abductee Khaled Moqbel Hassan received a phone call from the captors, who threatened to kill 7 servicemen if life imprisonment sentences against 5 Roumieh Islamist inmates were not revoked,” LBCI TV reported in the evening.

Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh on Sunday said he rejects the election of any president who does not enjoy so-called “Christian legitimacy,” noting that he prefers continued vacuum at the Baabda Palace over the election of a “centrist president.”

“There is nothing new in the issue of the presidency and the circumstances are not ripe for the election of a president,” Franjieh said in an interview on al-Jadeed television.

A shepherd was injured on Sunday when a suspicious item exploded in the southern town of Kharayeb, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The NNA said that the shepherd sustained injuries after the suspicious item exploded. He was admitted to Jabal Amel Hospital for treatment.

The United States Embassy in Lebanon denied on Sunday a report saying that Washington had filed an official complaint to the Lebanese government for attempting to strike a deal with Russia on supplying the army with used T-72 tanks.

The embassy stressed in comments to Naharnet that “the report is false.”

The March 14 alliance rejects to engage in any dialogue with Hizbullah ahead of the election of a new president, the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper reported on Sunday.

Sources close to the coalition called on Hizbullah to take positive stances that would encourage all political sides to resume dialogue.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam expressed frustration on Sunday over his cabinet's lack of productivity, considering that the sharp political rift in the country has a direct impact on the government's work.

“The cabinet is using half its capacities,” Salam told An Nahar newspaper, urging all sides to revitalize the government work so that it will once again be productive.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a technological innovation plan to ensure America's military superiority in the 21st century, expressing concern over technologies and arms obtained by Hizbullah.

“Technologies and weapons that were once the exclusive province of advanced nations have become available to a broad range of militaries and non-state actors, from dangerously provocative North Korea to terrorist organizations like Hizbullah,” Hagel said at a national defense conference at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation in Simi Valley, California.

Series of Flooding in Lebanon Continue due to Rain: Citizens Trapped for Hours in Tunnels and Car Accidents Occur

It is not the first time that citizens get trapped inside their cars on the streets due to the floods caused by the rain. On Saturday, they were trapped for hours inside the tunnels of Beirut that witnessed traffic jams and several accidents.

Minister of Justice Ashraf Rifi on Saturday called for “the release of those who did not fight the army” in the clashes in Tripoli and the north last month, rejecting “the arbitrary arrest of any religious or bearded man.”

The Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops stressed on Saturday the need to end the presidential vacuum in Lebanon, calling on lawmakers to assume their responsibilities to that end.

It said: “All presidential candidates must abandon their personal interests in favor of national ones.”