The Lebanese army confiscated a large quantity of machinegun ammunitions aboard an Italian ship in the port of the northern city of Tripoli, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.

The cargo of the vessel, which is owned by the Italian company Gremaldi, contained vehicles including two Renault Rapid cars, one of them included a large cache of ammunition.

Unknown individuals on Monday kidnapped the pastor of Baalbek’s Our Lady of Good Help Church, Father Walid Gharious, aka Father Elias Maroun Gharious, on the Baalbek road near the intersection leading to the town of al-Ansar, state-run National News Agency reported.

The priest was driving his Toyota Avanza when the abductors who were in two silver- and black-colored Grand Cherokee SUVs intercepted him, NNA said.

Gunmen in northern Nigeria's Kaduna state on Monday shot dead a Lebanese man and his Nigerian driver and abducted another Lebanese national, the state police spokesman said.

"The gunmen attacked the construction bus in which they were traveling, shot dead a Lebanese and the Nigerian driver and kidnapped another Lebanese," Aminu Lawan told Agence France Presse on telephone from Kaduna city.

The Phalange Party urged on Monday the government to take advantage of the international attention that is being granted Lebanon as demonstrated by the recent visits of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman and Iranian Vice President Mohammed Reza Rahimi.

It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “The attention highlights the importance of Lebanon in the region.”

Speaker Nabih Berri held talks on Monday with Prime Minister Najib Miqati on various local developments.

Miqati said after the meeting at Ain el-Tineh: “We discussed everything, including the appointments file and the issue of the government’s extra-budgetary spending.”

President Michel Suleiman lauded on Monday the efforts of the Interior and Defense Ministries in staging the municipal by-elections on Sunday, congratulating them on their accomplishment.

He said: “The elections were an example of democratic practice in Lebanon.”

An Iraqi court on Monday declared a Hizbullah commander accused of killing U.S. soldiers in Iraq in 2007 not guilty for lack of evidence and ruled that he be set free.

The case of Ali Mussa Daqduq has been a thorn in diplomatic relations between Baghdad and Washington since the American military pullout last December.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi reiterated his call for the adoption of an electoral law that brings into power efficient people and advocated a new social contract to resolve the country’s differences.

During a dinner banquet thrown in his honor by the Maronite parish in Montreal, al-Rahi said: “Lebanon is in need for a new electoral law that respects the freedom of choice of the citizen in bringing the person whom he sees as efficient and loyal to the nation.”

Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri held talks on Monday with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, announced his press office in a statement.

The Doha talks focused on the latest regional and international developments, especially the situation in the Arab world.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) demanded Israel to stop the building of a wall along the Lebanese-Israeli border after the Israelis removed the barbed wire without putting back any barriers, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

The UNIFIL informed the Israelis that the building of the wall can resume after restoring the barriers along the Fatima Gate in southern Lebanon.