BEIRUT: Lebanon pledged Thursday to tighten security and prevent arms smuggling across its border with Syria following reports that Al-Qaeda militants were infiltrating the country.The decision was taken during a meeting of the Higher Defense Council which discussed the security situation, particularly in border areas in the north with Syria and in the south with Israel, as well as Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s claims that Al-Qaeda members were entering the Bekaa town under the guise of Syrian opposition activists.

However, Ghosn’s claims have been rejected by Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, a development that has inflamed the Cabinet, already torn by differences over many key issues.

The council’s meeting, held at Baabda Palace, was called by President Michel Sleiman to look into allegations that Al-Qaeda members were present in Lebanon.

The tense Lebanese-Syrian border has witnessed deadly shootings in recent weeks as Syrian forces cracked down on suspected army defectors and refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria.

“The council stressed [the need to] prevent arms smuggling to and from Lebanon, control the security situation in border villages and prevent violations and the need to take security and judicial measures whenever a breach takes place,” said a statement after the talks.

“The council was briefed on the security situation in the south and stressed [the need] for continued cooperation with UNIFIL troops and tightening measures to protect their movement,” said the statement, read to reporters by Col. Wajdi Shamseddin.

“The council instructed the relevant [security] apparatuses to be firm in combating terrorism, boosting civil peace and preventing any attempt to tamper with it,” it added.

The council’s meeting, chaired by Sleiman, was attended by Mikati and the defense, interior, foreign affairs, finance and economy ministers as well as top security and military commanders, including Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi. The council discussed the security situation in general and was briefed by military and security commanders on the measures taken by the Army and security apparatuses to maintain law and order in the country.

The council discussed Tuesday’s incident in which three Lebanese were shot and killed by Syrian army gunfire in the northern border area of Wadi Khaled, an incident that heightened tensions on the Lebanese-Syrian border and triggered calls from the March 14 parties for the army to protect villages near the border with Syria.

Sleiman condemned the incident and stressed that security, judicial and diplomatic authorities conduct a probe into the shooting and carry out the necessary steps, the statement said.

“Following deliberations, the council distributed the missions to the ministries and the relevant apparatuses and issued instructions for continued coordination between the military and security agencies to exchange information that can help expose attempts to wreck security,” the statement said. It added that the council had kept its decisions secret according to law.

The Cabinet asked the Higher Defense Council Wednesday to probe Ghosn’s claims that members of Al-Qaeda had entered Arsal.

While Ghosn’s claims have been refuted by Mikati and Charbel, the defense minister’s remarks on the alleged Al-Qaeda presence have drawn fire from March 14 parties.

Mikati said there was no evidence that Al-Qaeda militants were operating in Lebanon, disputing Ghosn’s statement that the organization had sent operatives into the Lebanon-Syria border area. “There is no firm evidence of an Al-Qaeda presence in Arsal,” Mikati told reporters Wednesday.

Syria has blamed Al-Qaeda for a double car bomb attack on its capital last week that killed 44 people and wounded more than 100.

Meanwhile, a delegation from Arsal led by the head of the town’s municipality Ali Hujairi met with Kahwagi Thursday to thank him for the “intensive security measures” taken by military units in Arsal and its neighborhoods to protect the citizens and prevent infiltration and two-way smuggling operations.

The delegation assured Kahwagi that Arsal’s residents stood united on the side of the Army’s and rejected any terrorist activity in their area, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Kahwagi thanked the delegation for their confidence in Lebanon's military, noting that the “foundation of the army's performance rests upon cooperation with citizens” without any political interference.

Kahwagi also said it was in the interest of the Lebanese to safeguard the country from any ramifications that may result from regional developments.

“The army believes that preserving the homeland is a sacred right for all citizens and an absolute priority that [the army] cannot be lenient with under any circumstances,” he added.

The delegation met with Mikati Tuesday, urging him to deploy the army in their town. Also Thursday, lawmakers from the Future Movement-led March 14 coalition warned that they would seek U.N. protection against cross-border Syrian incursions unless the Lebanese Army acts to stop them. “We call on the government to do its job and the Lebanese Army to defend its territory and citizens. Otherwise, we will call for U.N. troops to protect our people from crimes [being] committed against them by the Syrian regime,” Akkar MP Khaled said in Tripoli.

The Lebanese Forces strongly condemned the incident in Wadi Khaled which led to the death of three Lebanese. The LF in a statement called on the government to “shoulder its responsibility toward all citizens and immediately clarify the circumstances of the incident.”

Kataeb MP Nadim Gemayel demanded that Lebanon file an urgent complaint with the U.N. Security Council over Syrian incursions into northern and eastern border towns and for the killings of Lebanese citizens. “While we deplore the government’s performance in failing to defend Lebanon and its sovereignty ... we call on it to take immediate measures to protect Lebanese civilians on the border and file an urgent complaint with the Security Council to condemn the targeting of innocent Lebanese and violations of national sovereignty,” he said in a statement.