The leader of al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has called on Lebanon's Sunnis to defect from the army.

"Sunnis, take your sons away from the army that serves your enemy, and make them join the ranks of the jihadists," al-Jolani, who heads al-Nusra Front in Syria, said in an audio recording on Sunday.

Health Minister Wael Abou Faour revealed Saturday that Turkey has promised the Lebanese government to offer help in the case of the captive troops, noting that “some progress” has been made.

“Salam urged the Turkish state to intervene and Turkey has promised to act. I hope these (Turkish) remarks will help resolve this case,” Abou Faour announced at Dahr al-Baidar after meeting with families of abducted troops.

Al-Qaida's Syria affiliate, al-Nusra Front, called on the Lebanese authorities Saturday to discuss its terms for the release of troops and police taken captive last month, and accused Hizbullah of impeding the negotiations.

Al-Nusra Front killed one of the hostages who were captured in fighting in the town of Arsal near the Syrian border. Jihadists of the Islamic State group beheaded the other two.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, whose country has joined the U.S.-led air strikes against Islamic State group militants in Syria, said Riyadh was ready to help Lebanon if it asked for assistance in its battle against jihadists.

In remarks carried by An Nahar newspaper on Thursday, al-Faisal said: “We have helped Lebanon to buy weapons through a $1 billion donation.”

A Lebanese soldier was killed on Tuesday after gunmen opened fire on an army post in al-Beddawi near the northern city of Tripoli, the military announced.

An army communique said troops responded to the 4:00 am attack by opening fire on the perpetrators, adding that military units were pursuing them to arrest them.

A suicide car bomber killed on Saturday night three people at a checkpoint manned by Hizbullah in the district of Baalbek that lies in eastern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.

However, a Hizbullah-run TV station reported later that the suicide bomber did not kill anyone at the checkpoint. There was no immediate way to reconcile the contradictory reports.

The ruthless Islamic State jihadist group on Wednesday threatened to behead another army soldier over what it described as the Lebanese government's “lies” and “procrastination” in the negotiations over the abducted troops.

“We have been patient towards you and we have warned you, but we were confident that the decision is not in your hand and that you do not care about the soldiers who are in our custody,” the group said in a statement addressed to the government.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday announced that a political “deal” to extend the parliament's mandate has been already reached among the various parties, noting that Lebanon cannot join an international coalition that might be aimed at confronting another coalition.

“My nomination has been submitted and all options are on the table. If today's statements turn out to be true, then there will be an extension of the parliament's term as we were expecting, but we have submitted our nominations in order not to leave anything to chance,” Aoun said in an interview on OTV, only hours before the deadline to file candidacies ended.

A man who staged a sick prank by filming himself threatening to behead three Syrian refugee children has confessed that he was amused by their weeping and their mother actually loved the video, a police statement said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a security official told Agence France-Presse that the video proved to be a "sick joke," and that the children had been left in the man's care by their mother, his neighbor, while she went to buy groceries.

U.N. envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura met on Saturday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, focusing on the latest developments in Lebanon and the extensive burden the country is suffering due to the crisis in neighboring countries, in particular Syria.

“It is normal to begin my regional tour from Lebanon to discuss the latest developments,” De Mistura told reporters from the Grand Serail.