Lebanon told to combat arms smuggling

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Syria's envoy to Beirut has urged the Lebanese government to prevent cross-border arms smuggling, saying the alleged trafficking was “complementary to terrorism”.

In an interview with the Hezbollah-run website Al-Intiqad, Ali Abdelkarim Ali called on Lebanon to take “serious, strict measures to end arms smuggling from Lebanon into Syria and... not give in to international pressure.”

Ali, the first Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, linked the issue of suspected arms smuggling to claims that Al-Qaeda was operating along the Lebanese-Syrian border, made earlier this month by Lebanon's pro-Syrian defence minister.

“Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn's exposure of Al-Qaeda members who are infiltrating Syria via the Lebanese border village of Aarsal is an issue that must be dealt responsibly and seriously,” Ali was quoted as saying.

“Arms smuggling and terrorism are complementary, and measures to put an end to this matter must be clear and decisive.”

Syrian- and Iranian-backed Shiite group Hezbollah dominates the Mikati government and is a staunch ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who blames the violence in his country on “armed terrorist” groups.

The government has said it is investigating Ghosn's claims that a terrorist group was smuggling weapons into Syria through Aarsal, which borders the Syrian protest hub of Homs.

Lebanon's Western-backed opposition, which supports Syrian pro-democracy protesters, has meanwhile slammed Ghosn as a “minister for the defence of the Assad regime” over his statements.

Aarsal, considered a stronghold of opposition leader Saad Hariri, has in recent months witnessed a string of deadly incursions by the Syrian army in a bid to crack down on arms smuggling.

Wounded Syrian protesters have crossed the border into Aarsal to seek medical care in Lebanon as violence escalates in Homs.

The United Nations estimate earlier this month that more than 5000 people have been killed in the crackdown since protests against the Assad regime began in mid-March. -Sapa-AFP