The recent claims about the presence of al-Qaida in Lebanon have pushed U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon to stir the issue of the demarcation of the Lebanese-Syrian border with top Lebanese officials next week, informed sources said Thursday.

The sources told An Nahar daily that Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn’s allegations that al-Qaida was operating in the eastern town of Arsal and the contradictory statements made by officials later on, have forced Ban to discuss with the Lebanese officials about a request to demarcate the border in accordance with U.N. Security Council resolution 1680.

A top U.S. counterterrorism official has admitted that there are “sympathetic groups to al-Qaida in Lebanon” but refused to comment on allegations made by the Lebanese defense minister about the operations of militants in the eastern border town of Arsal.

“We’ve seen the reports, and I don’t have any further comment on them,” said Daniel Benjamin, Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the Department of State, in a special briefing on Wednesday.

France on Thursday urged the Arab League to strengthen its monitoring mission in Syria amid concerns its observers have failed to stem bloodletting in the country.

The French foreign ministry's deputy spokesman, Romain Nadal, also called on the Arab grouping to accept help in organizing the mission, in particular from the United Nations.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Wednesday stressed that any attempts to stir up a confrontation between the army and the Sunni residents of border regions would be “unsuccessful like those behind them.”

Answering another question on Twitter on whether he believed that removing weapons from Palestinian camps and those of the “terrorist Salafist groups” had priority over removing Hizbullah’s arms, Hariri said: “All at once; any (illegal) weapons in the country are harmful. Only the state should possess weapons.”

Syria accused the United States on Wednesday of interfering in Arab League affairs, as a U.S. envoy traveled to Cairo for talks with the bloc about ending the Damascus regime's deadly crackdown on dissent.

Meanwhile, democracy activists have denounced the 22-member Arab bloc over the "unprofessionalism" of a team of peace observers whose presence in Syria has failed to stem the bloodshed.

Syria's opposition was in disarray Wednesday, struggling to present a united front in the face of a protest crackdown whose death toll rose again despite the presence of Arab League monitors.

Western powers have repeatedly called on the Syrian opposition to put aside differences and join forces in their bid to oust President Bashar Assad and his autocratic regime after more than nine months of bloody violence.

March 14 General Secretariat lauded on Wednesday U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon’s scheduled visit to Lebanon as a reminder that implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions are important to end the arms chaos in the country.

It said that the visit will be an opportunity to remind the Lebanese, Arab and international communities that the “full implementation of U.N. Security Council resolutions on Lebanon will put an end to the arms chaos and the lack of control on the Lebanese-Syrian border.”

The Israeli army and the Israel Atomic Energy Commission are preparing for the possibility of an attempted attack on the Dimona nuclear reactor during a conflict with Iran, Syria, Hizbullah or Hamas, Haaretz daily reported.

Dimona is located within the range of surface-to-surface missiles possessed by Iran, Syria and Hizbullah, it said.

Iran has demanded the release of seven of its nationals who were abducted last month in restive Syria, media reported Tuesday.

"According to the last information we have, they are in good health and we are trying to obtain their release," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying.

Most of the 10,000 Filipinos working in strife-torn Syria have refused to leave despite mounting violence in the country, the Philippine foreign minister said Wednesday.

Albert del Rosario said he tried to convince more Filipinos to leave during a recent visit to Syria, but "I did not see too many people who were enthusiastic about being repatriated."