Maronite monk Elie Jerji al-Maqdessi, 51, was strangled to death with a rope, the National News Agency reported on Sunday, after his body was found Saturday morning on the seaside road in Naameh.

The monk of the Bhersaf Monastery in Northern Metn originally hails from the Bekaa town of Hawsh Hala.

Speaker Nabih Berri on Sunday told his Kuwaiti counterpart Jassem al-Kharafi during a phone conversation that Lebanon is eager to end the abduction of Kuwaiti citizen Issam al-Houti soon, Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA reported.

“All Lebanese security agencies are on the highest state of alert to find the Kuwaiti citizen and guarantee his immediate release,” al-Kharafi quoted Berri as saying.

Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq stated on Sunday that those banking on the Syrian crisis to weaken the resistance will be disappointed.

He said: “The day in which Lebanon’s resistant identity is changed will never come.”

Speaker Nabih Berri noted that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Lebanon is not strictly aimed at Christians, but all of the Lebanese people, especially in light of recent developments in the country, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He called on “everyone to welcome the visit and benefit from it in order to assert Lebanon’s role in the region given the critical situation.”

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi condemned on Sunday the various security incidents that had taken place in Lebanon in recent weeks, saying that the situation has reached an unacceptable level.

He said during his Sunday sermon: “We cannot accept the security chaos and the return of militia practices.”

The release of one of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims held in Syria created an air of optimism in Lebanon that the rest of his colleagues may be released soon, especially in light of al-Meqdad clan’s military wing’s release of a number of Syrian captives as gesture of goodwill to the development, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

Widely-informed sources however revealed to the daily that Lebanese officials “have voiced reservations” that the remainder of the pilgrims may be released soon.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour is scheduled to travel to Iran on Sunday to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

President Michel Suleiman is set to travel to Tehran to attend the summit later next week.

The head of the Free Syrian Army Riad al-Asaad accused Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of obstructing the release of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims “because he failed to perform what was asked of him,” reported Voice of Lebanon radio on Sunday.

He said: “The release of the remainder of the pilgrims will not be as easy as some believe because most of them are Hizbullah officials.”

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel stated that Kuwaiti national Issam Ibrahim Nasser al-Houti was not abducted for political reasons, reported the daily An Nahar on Sunday.

He told the daily: “The security agencies and army intelligence are doing their utmost to ensure his release.”

The head of the Syrian Relief Commission, Nabil al-Halabi, criticized the arrest of the commission’s office head Wael al-Khalidi, reported the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat on Sunday.

He told the daily that al-Khalidi was arrested without an arrest warrant at Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday.