BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman said Sunday Lebanese were opposed to terrorism and would not harbor terrorists.

“Lebanon is against terrorism and has paid the biggest price fighting it. I am sure that no Lebanese or Lebanese town would accept to harbor [terrorists] and they are cooperating with the state to prevent it,” Sleiman told reporters in Bkirki following his meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.

Sleiman’s comments come days after Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn warned that Al-Qaeda members had entered Lebanon through the north Lebanon border village of Arsal under the guise of Syrian refugees.

“Weapons are being smuggled [there] and members of terrorist groups are entering to establish a base [in Lebanon] under the cover that they belong to the Syrian opposition,” Ghosn said.

On Friday, two suicide bombings targeted security facilities in Damascus, Syria, killing over 40 and wounding more than 100. Syrian officials blamed Al-Qaeda for the attacks.

In response to a question about Sleiman’s effort to relaunch national dialogue among the country’s rival politicians, the president said politicians had shunned his calls for multi-party talks as each of the country’s coalitions held different expectations on the outcomes of the Arab Spring.

“The proposal I presented was not accepted by the two sides because of their bets on [the outcome of the Arab Spring],” Sleiman said.

“If we want to wager on the end result of the Arab Spring, where some people are betting on its success for their own sake and others bet on its loss translating into success for them then it is a loss for Lebanon in either case,” he added.