INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Lebanons Defence Minister Michel Menassa and his Syrian equivalent Murhaf Abu Qasra agreed on a ceasefire, the Lebanese and Syrian defence
ministries said in statements on Monday, as cross-border clashes in the last 2 days left 10 dead.Three soldiers in Syrias brand-new army and
7 Lebanese were killed in border clashes throughout the previous two days, the Syrian defence ministry and Lebanese health ministry said.On
the Lebanese side, 52 people were wounded, the health ministry said.The Lebanese and Syrian defence ministers also agreed on continuing
contacts in between the army intelligence directorates to avoid more deterioration on the border.The mountainous frontier has been a
flashpoint in the three months since Islamist rebels toppled Syrias Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Tehran and Iran-backed Lebanese armed group
Hezbollah, and installed their own institutions and army.Meanwhile, Lebanons Foreign Affairs Minister Youssef Raji met his Syrian
counterpart Asaad al-Shibani in Brussels to discuss the cross-border developments and agreed to maintain contacts, the Lebanese state news
company NNA reported.Late on Sunday, Syrias defence ministry implicated Hezbollah of crossing into Syrian area and kidnapping and killing
the three members of Syrias new army
Hezbollah rejected any involvement.A Lebanese security source informed Reuters the three Syrian soldiers had actually crossed into Lebanese
area first and were killed by armed members of a tribe in northeastern Lebanon who feared their town was under attack.Syrian troops reacted
by shelling Lebanese border towns overnight, according to the Syrian defence ministry and the Lebanese army.Residents of the town of
Al-Qasr, less than 1 kilometre (0.6 mile) from the border, told Reuters they ran away additional inland to escape the bombardment.Lebanons
army said in a declaration on Monday that it had turned over the bodies of the three killed Syrians to Syrian authorities, which it had
actually reacted to fire from Syrian area and sent out supports to the border area.Syrias army sent out a convoy of soldiers and a number of
tanks to the frontier on Monday, according to a Reuters reporter along the border
Syrian soldiers fired into the air as they moved through towns on the way to the border.Large military supports were generated to strengthen
positions along the Syrian-Lebanese border and avoid any breaches in the coming days, said Maher Ziwani, the head of a Syrian army division
releasing to the border.Source: Reuters-- Agencies
