A group of young men on Monday captured a man they suspected to be a Syrian intelligence agent in Tripoli and handed him over to Lebanese army intelligence, as reports said he was “tortured.”

A mob “beat up and tormented a Syrian man after they suspected that he belongs to the Syrian intelligence,” al-Jadeed television reported.

Former Syrian Vice President Abdul Halim Khaddam criticized President Michel Suleiman's positions on the Syrian crisis, saying that they are “hostile” towards the Syrian people, said various media reports Monday.

He added in an address to Suleiman: “Several Lebanese and Arab people do not question Suleiman's antagonistic stances against the Syrians and their revolt due to your loyalty to Syrian President Bashar Assad, who played a major role in your appointment as president.”

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat noted on Monday the emergence of positive signs that the political powers may reach an agreement over the hybrid parliamentary electoral law.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “We renew the party's readiness to exercise the necessary flexibility to bolster the chances of reaching an agreement over a new law.”

Elite fighters from Hizbullah, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, are leading the fight against rebels in the region of Qusayr in the central province of Homs, a watchdog said on Monday.

"It's Hizbullah that is leading the battle in Qusayr, with its elite forces," Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told Agence France Presse.

Human Rights Watch called Monday on both the Syrian regime and rebel forces to end "indiscriminate cross-border attacks" on areas in Lebanon, warning they violate international law.

Fire from the conflict in neighboring Syria has regularly spilled over into Lebanon, killing two people in the most recent incident on April 14. Both rebel forces and regime troops have reportedly been involved in such fire.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Monday implicitly confirmed Israel was behind a January strike on a weapons convoy in Syria, saying Israel had "acted" to stop advanced weaponry reaching Hizbullah.

Speaking at a news conference with U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Yaalon said Israel would not allow "sophisticated weapons" to fall into the hands of "Hizbullah or other rogue elements."

The relatives of the abducted Lebanese pilgrims in Syria's Aazaz held a protest on Monday near Turkish airlines offices in al-Azarieh building in downtown Beirut, threatening to stage an open-ended sit-in near the Turkish embassy in Rabieh.

“We will go ahead with our sit-ins near the Turkish airlines offices and we will stage an open-ended sit-in near the Turkish embassy when the weather improves,” Adham Zogheib, the son of one of the kidnapped men, told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3).

Hizbullah official Sheikh Nabil Qaouq has said the party's fighters had a moral and nationalistic duty to protect Lebanese citizens from rebels in villages and towns on the Syrian-Lebanese border.

“What Hizbullah is doing regarding this issue is a nationalistic and moral duty in protecting the Lebanese in border villages,” Qaouq, who is the deputy head of the party's executive council, said.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea revealed on Monday that his party might not continue attending the electoral subcommittee meetings, which is discussing the controversial vote law, if the rival parties failed to reach common ground.

“We might not attend anymore if things continue as they are... Some sides aren't giving a clear stance and others are maneuvering while the electoral law is going windward,” Geagea said in comments to al-Akhbar newspaper.

Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam has reportedly clinched a preliminary deal with the country's major political parties to form a 24-member cabinet made up of figures who are not running in the parliamentary elections.

Official sources told al-Liwaa newspaper that Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat are playing a major role along with Salam to bring the new cabinet to light.