The Lebanese army has arrested two Syrians for trying to infiltrate the southern town of Shabaa through Mount Hermon, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

NNA said members of a military checkpoint - erected at the eastern end of Shabaa - apprehended Ibrahim Mazrdakash and Omar Othman as they were trying to reach the town via Mount Hermon's heights.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea held onto his candidacy for the presidential run, considering that the Baabda Palace post is “decaying” due to the ongoing vacuum.

“I will not withdraw my candidacy until we are offered an alternative to end the presidential deadlock,” Geagea said in an interview published in the Jordanian newspaper Ad Dustour on Monday.

The Lebanese army foiled an infiltration attempt overnight when some gunmen tried to infiltrate the outskirts of Ras Baalbek and Wadi Rafek near of al-Qaa, the state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

Lebanese troops engaged in heavy armed clashes with the infiltrators, NNA added.

The Muslim Scholars Committee stressed on Monday that it received the green light from a security agency to head to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal and engage in direct negotiations with the Islamist gunmen, who are holding several Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage.

Sources close to the committee said that Sheikh Hossam al-Ghali, who was arrested on Sunday as he was heading to the outskirts of Arsal along with four Syrian gunmen of whom one was carrying an explosive belt, headed to the area to take a written pledge from the abductors that the captive servicemen will not be harmed.

Lebanon is seeking to renew the interest of international companies in offshore oil exploration despite the procrastination of the government in issuing licensing and amid reports that Israel was “stealing” Lebanese gas.

Local dailies said on Monday that the parliament's energy committee recently discovered that the interest of oil exploration companies has dropped to a large extent after they realized the Lebanese government was slow in adopting two important bills.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea left Sunday for Saudi Arabia for talks with top Saudi officials.

Head of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, stressed Sunday that Hizbullah is willing to engage in dialogue with the al-Mustaqbal movement while underlining that the party will not give up its principles in any talks.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Sunday urged the state to fulfill justice in the murder of Sobhi and Nadimeh Fakhri, as he called on the Jaafar family to hand over the killers of the couple and rejected any “political cover.”

“We express our full solidarity with you and with all the residents of Btedei, Deir al-Ahmar and the entire region,” al-Rahi said in the northern Bekaa town of Btedei, after offering condolences to the Fakhri family.

The army arrested Muslim Scholars Committee member Sheikh Hossam al-Ghali on Sunday as he was heading to the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal along with four Syrian gunmen of whom one was carrying an explosive belt.

Ghali was reportedly seeking to hold talks with the kidnappers of the Lebanese troops and servicemen when he was arrested.

A sit-in was held outside the Grand Serail at the Riad al-Solh Square in downtown Beirut in solidarity with the families of the captive servicemen as the al-Qaida-affiliate al-Nusra Front reportedly appointed a new negotiator.

The relatives of abducted soldiers and police expressed hope in the endeavors carried out by Health Minister Wael Abou Faour to end the abduction ordeal.