A hand grenade exploded behind Tinal mosque in the northern port city of Tripoli, and the army found another grenade in the area.

An Nahar newspaper reported that the army arrived at the scene after the blast on Sunday. “A force from the army and Internal Security forces arrived immediately and cordoned off the area, and began investigating,” As Safir said.

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Sunday noted that "WikiLeaks documents have revealed the presence of militias in Lebanon that sought to acquire arms in order to incite sedition and civil war."

"This is what was being plotted in May 2008, according to these documents," Qassem went on to say.

Speaker Nabih Berri has urged the Lebanese to set the preservation of their country as a priority saying the “adherence to privileges” was preventing the establishment of the state.

“Lebanon needs the confirmation of its citizens that it represents a top priority for them,” Berri said during the annual charity dinner held by the Lebanese Association for the Welfare of the Disabled at BIEL on Saturday night.

The Syrian army has thwarted attempts by “armed men” to escape to Lebanon by land and sea, the Syrian al-Watan newspaper reported Sunday.

The daily said that the Syrian military was making strong efforts to “eradicate terrorist cells” in the country.

Israel's recently retired spy chief, Meir Dagan, has said that the Jewish state would be better off if Syrian President Bashar Assad was toppled because “this will stop help to Hizbullah,” Israeli media reported Sunday.

Dagan also told a weekend conference that Assad’s fall would strengthen the Sunni camp in Syria and in the Arab world in general. “These things will be good for Israel strategically.”

Bahrain's military prosecutor accused 21 political activists of seeking to overthrow the ruling monarchy with the help of a “foreign terrorist group” — an apparent reference to Hizbullah — in a widening crackdown on a pro-reform uprising by the island nation's Shiite majority.

The charges are part of fast-moving efforts by Bahrain's authorities to prosecute opposition leaders and others after months of clashes and protests in the strategic kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Late last month, a special security court set up under martial law sentenced four people to death for killing two policemen in the unrest.

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has called for the consolidation of the military institution, saying Lebanon would not exist without the unity of the nation and the army.

“There is no Lebanon without the unity of the country and the military institution,” Jumblat told a delegation headed by retired Maj. Gen. Shawki al-Masri that visited him in Mukhtara on Saturday.

Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s circles have confirmed that the billionaire businessman met with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah last month.

“They met almost a month ago,” the circles told the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa daily in response to a question if the two men were planning to hold talks soon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday prayed that Lebanon comes out of its crisis and hoped that the relationship between officials would be based on mutual respect.

During a mass at the Harissa basilica, al-Rahi expressed hope that Lebanese officials would use their conscience to end the government formation impasse that is “paralyzing constitutional institutions” and drowning Lebanon in an economic crisis.

Officials involved in the formation of the new government are mulling new names to head the interior ministry after President Michel Suleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun failed to agree on who would name the minister.

High-ranking March 8 sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday that some parties suggested naming Ghaleb Ghanem, the former head of the Higher Judicial Council, as interior minister given that he is Maronite and a neutral personality.