BEIRUT: Future Movement MP Ahmad Fatfat criticized the Lebanese Army Wednesday for unnecessarily flexing its muscles, urging the military instead to control the border with Syria.

“We call on the Lebanese Army to protect all the northern and eastern borders to prevent arms smuggling,” Fatfat said in remarks to Future News channel.

“But the deployment of troops in villages is unnecessary as it creates sensitivities, particularly since [the Army] flexed its muscles following the Syrian ambassador’s visit to Lebanese leaders,” he added.

The main Lebanese political coalitions hold opposite views on the Syria crisis, with March 14 siding with the protestors aiming to topple President Bashar Assad and March 8 standing by the Syrian regime.

The two coalitions are also engaged in a dispute over the proper course of action for the Lebanese army in the wake of the crisis and the ongoing smuggling of arms from Lebanon to opposition groups in Syria.

March 14 accuses March 8 of trying to convince the army to undertake actions on behalf of the embattled Syrian regime, such as rounding up Syrian army defectors who have taken refuge in Lebanon.

March 8 denies the allegations and claims that March 14 wants the army to turn a blind eye to the smuggling of weapons from Lebanon to opposition groups in Syria.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has defended the Lebanese Army.

“The army, under Gen. Jean Kahwaji, is doing all the duties required of it,” Berri said in remarks published Wednesday.

He said the Army was acting in line with the government’s policy to disassociate itself from the unrest in Syria.

“The Army is not with one [party] against another. It stands at a point equidistant from everyone,” Berri stressed.

In his interview with Future News TV, Fatfat also slammed Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah for “offending the Syrian people by saying that nothing is going on in Homs despite acknowledging the fact that there is a political, military and popular opposition.”

He was referring to Nasrallah’s Tuesday speech on the occasion of Prophet Mohammad's birthday.

Fatfat also criticized the Hezbollah chief for saying that the government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati will stay in office.

“By saying this, Sayyed Nasrallah is acknowledging that the government is actually Hezbollah-run,” Fatfat said.