Afghan negotiators seeking peace with the Taliban will soon travel to Pakistan for their first meeting with key militant commander Mullah Baradar, officials said Wednesday.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in a statement that a deal had been reached after talks on Tuesday in London with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The kidnappers of the two bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi in Syria in April are demanding an immediate end to violence in the country to guarantee their safe release.

According to al-Liwaa newspaper published on Wednesday, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad should commit to a long-term truce in order for the abductors to release the two bishops.

President Michel Suleiman warned on Saturday that Christianity would be in limbo if Lebanon’s free Christians disappear due to the changes in the region but he voiced confidence on the fate of two bishops kidnapped in Syria.

“If Lebanon’s free Christians disappear, then the religion will crumble in the Middle East, Asia and Africa,” the president warned during a speech at the first Conference on the Christians of the Orient in the Metn town of Rabweh.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has expressed relief after promises made by Qatar that it would resolve the case of two bishops held hostage by rebels in Syria since April.

Ibrahim, who returned to Beirut on Friday following talks with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim ben Hamad Al Thani, was relieved over the results of the efforts exerted by Doha to locate the bishops, informed sources told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi said Friday that a possible decision by Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam to give up his task to form the new government would be shameful for all the lawmakers who named him during binding consultations with the president.

In remarks to reporters at Rafik Hariri International Airport upon his return from the Qatari capital, al-Rahi said: “Such a possible decision would be shameful for all the MPs who unanimously named it.”

General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim headed to Doha on Wednesday to discuss with Qatari officials the case of the two kidnapped bishops by armed men in Syria in April.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Thursday, Ibrahim held talks with senior Qatari political and security officials, including his Qatari counterpart.

Syria expressed resentment over Lebanon's exploitation of the case of the two kidnapped bishops, who are Syrians, An Nahar newspaper reported on Thursday.

According to the newspaper, Syria stressed that the case of the Bishops Youhanna Ibrahim and Boulos Yazigi, who were kidnapped by armed men in Syria in April, is “a national Syrian matter,” which Lebanon is interfering in.

Syrian authorities have released 16 women detainees as part of a weekend hostage exchange, but more than 100 others are still being held, a prominent human rights activist said Wednesday.

Nine Lebanese hostages held for 17 months by a rebel group in northern Syria were exchanged on Saturday for two Turkish pilots abducted in Beirut in August.

General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim has met with Syrian President Bashar Assad to discuss the case of the bishops kidnapped by armed men in Syria in April, the state-run National News Agency reported Wednesday.

NNA did not say when the meeting took place.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Tuesday traveled to Doha at an invitation from Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, hoping Qatari officials will help unveil the fate of two Christian bishops who were abducted by an armed group in Syria.

Asked at the Rafik Hariri International Airport whether he will discuss the issue of bishops Boulos Yazigi and Yohanna Ibrahim with the Qatari officials, al-Rahi said: “In the name of all the Lebanese and on behalf of the nine freed Lebanese (pilgrims) and their families, I thank Qatar for its major role in their release … and of course I hope the Qatari officials will use all their influence to unveil the fate of the two bishops, in addition to three other priests who were kidnapped and their fate remains unknown until the moment.”