A previously unheard of group calling itself "The Brigade of al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi" has claimed responsibility for kidnapping Syrian opposition members in Lebanon with the aim of swapping them for 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22, al-Mayadeen television reported on Monday.

The Beirut-based, pan-Arab TV network did not mention how many Syrian activists were nabbed or the Lebanese area they were allegedly kidnapped from.

The Phalange Party on Monday said it “reiterates its firm stance on national dialogue and its importance,” but held Hizbullah responsible for “torpedoing the agenda of the national dialogue committee as laid out by the president.”

The party accused Hizbullah of trying to block any debate on the so-called defense strategy by seeking a “liberation strategy, which would therefore turn the (dialogue) committee into a paralyzed council that is similar to the incompetent, futile government.”

President Michel Suleiman postponed on Monday the national dialogue session that was set to be held on Tuesday after the March 14 camp announced that it will be boycotting the all-party talks.

The next session will now be held on August 16.

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat criticized on Monday Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s position on the Syrian crisis, saying that he should have taken a stance towards the Syrian people that is “more in line with the liberation role he played in the South.”

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa magazine: “He was better off not referring to one of the symbols of oppression against the Syrian people as a comrade-in-arms.”

President Michel Suleiman condemned on Monday the Syrian troops’ infiltration into Lebanon’s eastern border region of al-Qaa and the shelling of several border towns, particularly in the north.

He tasked Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to hand Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali a letter of complaint over his country’s endeavors along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

The European Union expressed on Monday its readiness to continue providing assistance to Lebanon in coping with the burden of harboring refugees fleeing the unrest in neighboring Syria.

It said in a statement after a council meeting on Lebanon: “The EU commends the Lebanese authorities for their efforts to support those fleeing the violence in Syria, and encourages the government of Lebanon to continue meeting its responsibilities in this respect.”

A Lebanese man was on Monday ordered detained in Cyprus police custody for a further week over allegations he was helping to plan an attack on Israeli tourists, state radio reported.

The 24-year-old, who holds a Swedish passport, appeared at a closed-door hearing under tight security at a court in the island's second city Limassol, which agreed to a prosecution request he should remain in detention for a further seven days, the radio said.

Electricite du Liban contract workers vowed on Monday to continue their open-ended strike, stressing that they will not leave the company’s premises in Mar Mikhael until all their demands are met.

“We will not squander our rights,” committee of EDL contract workers said in a statement.

The uprising in the neighboring Syria, which kicked off in March 2011, began to significantly have an impact on the Lebanese agricultural sector.

A police vehicle was damaged and an officer was slightly injured on Monday when security forces came under gun and mortar fire while destroying cannabis crops in a town near the city of Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley, the National News Agency reported.

An Internal Security Forces Nissan was hit with bullets and the officer, who was wearing a bullet-proof vest, was bruised after a bullet struck him in the back.