Lebanon has informed the United Nations that pro-Damascus Palestinian militants are massing fighters near the border with Syria, an official said Tuesday, as the U.N. voiced fears of rising strife in the divided country. "The government sent reports to the United Nations noting the observation last week of concentrations (of armed men) from Fatah-Intifada and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command," the source said. The fighters were seen in two areas, Qussaya and Halwa, in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley close to the Syrian border, the source said.The parliament -backed government says Syria is seeking to destabilize its smaller neighbor, from which it was forced to withdraw troops in 2005, by allowing arms and militants to cross its border. The warning about the two Damascus-based militant factions came as the Lebanese army besieged terrorists of Fatah al-Islam at a northern refugee camp for a fourth week.
The U.N. Security Council on Monday voiced deep concern at reports of arms smuggling across the Lebanese-Syrian border, amid fears of escalating strife in a country battling deep sectarian and political divisions. U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said that PFLP-GC and Fatah-Intifada appeared to be growing stronger with higher quality arms thanks to "a steady flow of weapons and armed elements across the border from Syria."
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon recently sent an independent mission to fully assess monitoring of the Syria-Lebanon border and a report is expected at the end of the month.
The U.N. Security Council resolution that brought an end to last summer's war between Israel and Hezbollah called on the government to secure its borders to prevent the entry of illegal weapons. It also called on the 12,700-strong U.N. peacekeeping force patrolling the Israeli border in the south to assist the government in achieving that objective, if requested.
The Beirut government has requested technical assistance to control its borders with Syria. Syria has objected strongly to any suggestion that foreign troops be deployed along the Lebanese side of its borders and threatened to shut the crossings. Syrian President Bashar Assad has said such a deployment would be considered a hostile act and could result in closure of border crossings.