BEIRUT (AP) — Two Syrian rockets struck Lebanon on Tuesday, causing damage and heightening tensions between Lebanese Shiite and Sunni communities over neighboring Syria's civil war, security officials in Beirut said.
In Israel, a senior military intelligence official said that Assad used chemical weapons last month against rebels.
Gen. Itai Brun of Israeli military intelligence told a security conference in Tel Aviv, "To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months."
There was heavy fighting on the Syrian side of the border around the strategic town of Qusair, where troops and pro-government Shiite gunmen backed by Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group have been advancing for days.
In Lebanon, hard-line Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir, one of the militant group Hezbollah's harshest critics, issued a religious edict urging Sunni Lebanese men "to defend Qusair."
Al-Assir and al-Rafie said Hezbollah has violated the Lebanese government's neutral stance toward Syria's civil war by taking part in the fighting.
Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was informed of the kidnapping late Monday night and contacted Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is in Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting.
In Israel, a senior military intelligence official said that Assad used chemical weapons last month against rebels.
Gen. Itai Brun of Israeli military intelligence told a security conference in Tel Aviv, "To the best of our professional understanding, the regime used lethal chemical weapons against the militants in a series of incidents over the past months."
There was heavy fighting on the Syrian side of the border around the strategic town of Qusair, where troops and pro-government Shiite gunmen backed by Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group have been advancing for days.
In Lebanon, hard-line Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmad al-Assir, one of the militant group Hezbollah's harshest critics, issued a religious edict urging Sunni Lebanese men "to defend Qusair."
Al-Assir and al-Rafie said Hezbollah has violated the Lebanese government's neutral stance toward Syria's civil war by taking part in the fighting.
Greek government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou said Prime Minister Antonis Samaras was informed of the kidnapping late Monday night and contacted Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, who is in Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting.
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