Religious and civil figures from Tripoli on Monday rejected the proliferation of arms in their restive city and condemned the latest calls for “jihad” in Syria that were voiced by Lebanese Sunni clerics.

There is a need to “spare the Lebanese arena any domestic conflict that might be sparked by the events in Syria,” said a statement issued by the dignitaries after a meeting at Dar al-Fatwa in the northern city.

Troops loyal to President Bashar Assad clashed with rebels near Damascus international airport on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog reported.

"Violent clashes have been taking place since this morning between regime troops and fighter brigades (of rebels) near the Damascus international airport and in nearby villages," the group said.

More than 45,000 Syrian refugees have returned to their war-torn country from a northern Jordanian refugee camp over the past nine months, a Jordanian official said on Monday.

Colonel Zaher Abu Shehab, who runs the Zaatari refugee camp, said a total of 45,865 Syrian refugees "have agreed to voluntarily leave the camp and return home" since July 2012, Petra news agency reported.

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is scheduled to make a televised appearance on Tuesday night.

Hizbullah's al-Manar television said that his speech, set for 8:30, will tackle the latest political developments.

One woman was wounded on Monday when rockets fired from Syria landed in Masharii al-Qaa border region.

Al-Manar television said that a woman was wounded after six shells fired by gunmen in Syria landed in the Bekaa area.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi demanded on Monday the release of the two abducted archbishops who were kidnapped in Syria.

He said: “Their kidnapping has nothing to do with the issues of dispute in Syria.”

Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali slammed on Monday claims that Hizbullah is sending fighters to Syria.

He deemed as a “myth” such allegations, accusing the media of distorting the facts in this issue.

The families of the nine Aazaz abductees on Monday blocked the road outside the Turkish Cultural Center in downtown Beirut to press for the release of their relatives.

Adham Zgheib, son of abducted pilgrim Ali Zgheib, told LBCI television: "Security forces were not honest with us and they let the employees of the Turkish Cultural Center continue their work."

Russia on Monday warned the West against using a search for weapons of mass destruction in Syria as an excuse for ousting President Bashar Assad along the lines of the notorious hunt for deadly arms in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov questioned why U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was calling for a fact-finding mission in Syria by citing unproven claims of the regime's use of chemical weapons in December.

Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi escaped an assassination bid on Monday, surviving a blast that targeted his convoy in Damascus, Syrian state television reported.

"The terrorist explosion in Mazzeh was an attempt to target the prime minister's convoy and Dr. Wael al-Halqi was unharmed," state television reported.