A YouTube video uploaded on Sunday showed Hussam Hussam -- who has claimed to be a witness in the 2005 assassination of ex-PM Rafik Hariri – in the custody of a group of Syrian rebels.

The group said it was part of the “brigades” that “stormed” the Syrian capital Damascus.

A Syrian rebel commander on Sunday said that 11 Lebanese pilgrims abducted in Syria on May 22 were in “good health” but stressed that they will only be released “after the ouster” of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to media reports.

Al-Jazeera television aired Tuesday a video it said it received from the abductors of 11 pilgrims.

Israel will not tolerate the transfer of advanced weapons to Hizbullah, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday, as fears grew about the future of Syria's suspected chemical arsenal.

"The State of Israel cannot accept the transfer of advanced weapons systems from Syria to Lebanon," he said in remarks relayed by his office.

A major blaze erupted Sunday on Damour’s outskirts and spread to Mishref and Kfar Matta, state-run National News Agency reported.

Civil Defense crews arrived immediately on the scene and embarked on combating the fire.

A Syrian force infiltrated on Sunday into Lebanon’s eastern border region of Masharii al-Qaa and opened sporadic fire among the residents of the area.

Security sources told MTV channel that the Syrian force is formed of 30 troops and infiltrated 500 meters into Lebanese territories.

Maronite Partiarch Beshara al-Rahi urged Christians on Sunday to play a positive role in resolving the crises in Lebanon on the levels of economy, politics and peace.

“The Lebanese need to be reassured and to get out from the worrisome state that they have reached,” al-Rahi said during Sunday mass at the patriarchal at his Diman summer residence.

Unknown assailants tossed at dawn Sunday a stun grenade at the protest site of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the southern city of Sidon, the National News Agency reported.

According to the NNA, there were no casualties, and no damage was caused.

Hizbullah denied on Sunday that it would transfer chemical weapons from Syria to Lebanon if the regime of President Bashar Assad collapsed, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported.

“It’s not the intention of Hizbullah to acquire such weapons, and Syria isn’t willing to export any for several reasons,” a source close to Hizbullah told the daily.

MP Butros Harb revealed on Sunday that President Michel Suleiman was behind the request to hand over the telecom data to the security agencies regarding the assassination attempt against Harb and the other assassinations.

“The cabinet didn’t voice its support to the president’s demand after incorrectly interpreting law 140,” Harb told An Nahar newspaper on Sunday.

Efforts exerted by Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh to end a spat between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri is yielding positive results, the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Sunday.

Sources close to Franjieh stressed that the ongoing contacts with Berri and the contacts carried out by Hizbullah have led to consensus over the matter.