Excerpts: Syria/Lebanon re Free Syria Army, Tunisia breaking relations with
Syria over crackdown February 04, 2012

+++SOURCE: Naharnet (Lebanon) 4 Feb.’12: “Lebanese Army Deploys in Wadi
Khaled, Opposition Describes Measures as 'Syrian Orders' “

Subject: Syria/Lebanon re Free Syria Army

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FULL TEXT:The Lebanese army deployed on Saturday[4 Feb.] in the northern
village of Wadi Khaled after media outlets reported that members of the Free
Syrian Army were present in the area.

“On Saturday[4 Feb.] morning the military carried out three airdrops in
al-Rami village near Wadi Khaled and searched the area for hours,� a
military source told LBC.

The source noted that these measures were taken depending on the
circumstances and “it could end on Saturday[4 Feb.].�

MP Moein al-Merehbi confirmed the incident, slamming the deployment of the
army as “Syrian orders to President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib
Miqati, and Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji.�

“Media reports saying that there are terrorists infiltrating from Syria into
Lebanon and vice-versa are bizarre and strange,� he stated.

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported that Wadi Khaled is a military base for the
Free Syrian Army.

According to the daily the Free Syrian Army officers and troops are moving
liberally along the illegal border crossings, smuggling weapons and
transporting injured soldiers.

Merehbi expressed regret for this “Syrian deployment command� when the
“martyrs and injured people in the area didn’t provoke the Lebanese state to
do so.�

“There are plans between the (Lebanese) army and the Syrian forces to
displace the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to arrest those who are wanted�
by the regime, Merehbi said.

He noted that the “Syrian army is forcing the residents of the area to
refuse sheltering the refugees,� urging the “army to halt the ongoing Syrian
violations in Lebanon.�

Resident ruled out to LBC that there are any members of the Free Syrian Army
in the area or there are arms smuggling operations, demanding “the army to
protect them from any Syrian violations.�

Future Movement MPs in Akkar Merehbi, Khaled al-Daher, and Khaled Zahraman
issued a statement welcoming the army in the north as they warned from an
attempt to “frighten the residents in the area and their Syrian guests
instead of deploying to safeguard them from the (Syrian) regime’s brutal
assaults.�

“How could the army’s deployment around houses in Akkar protect the
residents, unless they aim at detaining any Syrian refugee that the regime
demands,� the statement said, urging it to deploy along the Lebanese-Syrian
border.

They added that “the army’s failure to take previous measures when the Assad
troops violated the area� supports their statement.

Thousands of Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon as the state cracks down
on a popular revolt against President Bashar Assad regime, now in its
eleventh month.

In November, The Syrian army laced the Lebanese border with landmines in a
bid to curb arms smuggling and hampering army defectors and refugees from
fleeing.

Syrian troops have also staged deadly incursions into border villages in
neighboring Lebanon.

The United Nations estimate earlier this month that more than 5,000 people
have been killed in the crackdown since protests against the Assad regime
began in mid-March.

+++SOURCE: New York Times 4 Feb.’12:�Syrian Embassy in Tunisia Lowers Flag�,By
REUTERS

SUBJECT: Tunisia breaking relations with Syria over crackdown

FULL TEXT:TUNIS (Reuters) - Staff at the Syrian embassy in Tunisia's capital
lowered the national flag over the building on Saturday[4 Feb.], hours after
the Tunisian president said he was expelling the ambassador and preparing to
sever relations with Damascus.

A Reuters reporter outside the Syrian embassy said that when the flag was
lowered, a crowd of nearly 200 people, who were protesting nearby against
the Syrian government's crackdown on its opponents, cheered and shouted:
"The people want liberty for Syria!"
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Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA