The General Security announced on Tuesday the arrest of five Syrian members of the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Nusra Front group, one of whom is linked to the execution of soldiers kidnapped by the group and the Islamic State in 2014.

They confessed after interrogation to forming a terror cell aimed at carrying out bombings through booby-trapped cars.

The Lebanese army said on Tuesday that it seized drugs and arrested three Syrians during raids in the area of al-Zaaytrieh in the North Metn town of Fanar.

A communique issued by the military command said a patrol raided the hideouts of wanted suspects on Monday, seizing drugs.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi met on Tuesday with more Christian cabinet ministers with the aim of taking action against the alleged marginalization of Christians in state institutions.

Al-Rahi held separate talks with Telecommunications Minister Butros Harb and Minister of the Displaced Alice Shabtini in Bkirki.

An official has denied that Russia gave the green light to send Lebanon's waste to a Russian province, describing a document received by the authorities in Moscow as fake.

“The document that we received from the embassy of the Lebanese Republic with regards to our agreement to receive the waste is fake and forged,” the Tass Russian news agency quoted Nikolai Gudkov, press officer at the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, as saying.

Defense Minister Samir Moqbel has urged the European Union to speed up assistance for the huge number of refugees from war-ravaged Syria that Lebanon is now harboring.

Moqbel said on Monday that he has appealed to Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades to convey the message to other EU member states to speed up assistance because "we need the help now and not in one year."

Al-Mustaqbal movement leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held talks Monday evening in Maarab with Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, following a strain in relations between the two parties.

The meeting between the two leaders was also attended by the LF chief's wife MP Sethrida Geagea and Hariri's advisers Hani Hammoud and Nader Hariri, state-run National News Agency reported.

Several extremist militants were killed Monday when the army targeted their vehicle in the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal, state-run national News Agency reported.

“The Lebanese army destroyed with a guided missile a vehicle for the terrorist militants in the Arsal outskirts area of Dahr al-Safa,” NNA said.

Head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri held talks on Monday with several officials on the second day of his return to Lebanon after nearly a yearlong absence.

He met at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, telling reporters that “this time around my stay in the country will be longer than the last.”

Al-Mustaqbal denied on Monday that the movement's leader ex-PM Saad Hariri held the Lebanese Forces responsible for the delay in the reconciliation between Christian parties.

Al-Mustaqbal “respects” LF chief Samir Geagea, the movement said in a statement.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is expected to introduce changes to his address during a ceremony that will be held in honor of the party's “martyred leaders” on Tuesday.

Informed political sources said a speech that al-Mustaqbal Movement chief Saad Hariri gave in BIEL on Sunday will change the content of Nasrallah's address.