BEIRUT: Residents from the Bekaa border town of Arsal urged Tuesday Prime Minister Najib Mikati to deploy the Lebanese Army in their area in the wake of accusations that Al-Qaeda members had infiltrated their village.

The call was made on behalf of a delegation headed by Arsal mayor Ali Mohammad al-Hujeiri that visited Mikati at the Grand Serail in Beirut.

The visit came in the wake of recent statements by Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn in which he said Al-Qaeda members were taking shelter in Arsal under the guise that they belong to the Syrian opposition.

“We reject Ghosn’s remarks about the presence of Al-Qaeda members in our region,” one delegation member said following the meeting with Mikati.

He said town residents were opposed to extremist groups, a reference to Al-Qaida.

Ministerial sources said Monday that the Cabinet would uphold at its meeting Wednesday Ghosn’s clarification on Al-Qaeda, while President Michel Sleiman would renew his confidence that the Lebanese, with their different sects and political affiliations, would not defend or accommodate terrorists in their land and houses.