Lebanon holds emergency meeting to discuss border security

Lebanese Higher Defense Council's meeting The Lebanese Higher Defence Council (HDC) on Thursday expressed “relief” over the security situation in the country but elected to keep its resolutions confidential, following an emergency meeting at the Baabda Presidential Palace to tackle the issue of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the influx of refugees and gunmen from Syria.  Interior Minister Marwan Charbel confirmed to Arabstoday that security reports  assured that the security situation is under control.
According to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA), President Michel Sleiman headed the meeting.
The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi, Defence Minister Fayez Ghosn, Minister of Foreign Affairs Adnan Mansour, Minister of Economy Nicholas Nahhas, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi and Information Minister Walid Daouq.
The NNA said that the convention addressed a number of recent issues, particularly the subject of the Lebanese-Syrian border. However, the meeting’s decisions will remain confidential.
Lebanese Army Commander Jean Kahwaji and other security officials were also present at the talks.
The council “was briefed by the heads of the security agencies about the results of the security missions performed in several Lebanese regions and the border areas, expressing relief over the general security situation,” council spokesman Maj. Gen. Adnan Merheb announced after the meeting.
The meeting was called by President Michel Suleiman on Wednesday and comes after the UN refugee agency said  that about 2000 Syrians had fled to Lebanon in recent days, many from Homs and particularly the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr, which was stormed by Syrian troops last Thursday after a month of bombardment.
In a terse statement issued after the meeting said the Council asked security agencies to take stronger measures to fight terrorism and stressed cooperation with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL.
It kept its decisions secret in accordance with the law but said that discussions focused on the security measures taken in the country.
It also quoted President Michel Suleiman as “condemning” the killing of three Lebanese men in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled by Syrian cross-border fire. He stressed the importance of investigating the incident.
Suleiman and PM Najib Miqati held closed-door talks ahead of the meeting.
Top security officers, including Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, the head of the General Security Department, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, and head of Lebanese Army Intelligence Brig. Gen. Edmond Fadel also attended the meeting.
The cabinet on Wednesday tasked the HDC with convening to discuss the alleged presence of Al-Qaeda and other security concerns, including the Wadi Khaled incident and the bombing that targeted Tyros restaurant in the southern city of Tyre.
Lebanese Army Commander Jean Kahwaji said that the “Lebanese army units are making all possible efforts in order to control the Lebanese-Syrian border, prevent all acts of smuggling from Lebanon to Syria and vice-versa and thwart any infiltration attempts.” 
Kahwaji was speaking during an interview with Al-Afkar magazine to be published on Friday.  
“Those who are calling for us to facilitate the entrance of militants into Syrian territories or to Lebanese lands have committed a mistake in making such a request, because we will not allow this to happen.”
Kahwaji told the magazine that relations between the army and the Resistance in Lebanon, led by Hezbollah, “are more than good.”
The army leader also down-played the possibility of Israel launching a new attack on Lebanon in the future, and expressed his relief regarding the current situation in South Lebanon and the cooperation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL.
Moreover, Kahwaji blamed “fundamentalist groups” for the attacks that have targeted the international troops in southern Lebanon.
A bomb struck a French UN peacekeeping patrol in southern Lebanon on December 9, 2011 wounding five soldiers in an attack the Lebanese president Michel Sleiman said was aimed at “driving French troops out of the country.”
The incident marked the third such attack in 2011 against UNIFIL.
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel rejected on Thursday statements that Lebanon’s control of the Lebanese-Syrian border came at Syria’s behest.
“It is a Lebanese request not to allow armed people to enter Lebanon or to enter Syria through Lebanon,” Charbel said in a press release.