Syria Conduct Live Fire Army Maneuvers

According to the operational training plan for 2011, the demonstration was aimed at testing the combat capability and readiness of the Air Force and Air Defense to confront any possible aggression that might target Syria's land and airspace.

According to SANA, the participant formations showed a high level of coordination and cooperation under conditions similar to a real battle. The personnel demonstrated a qualitative expertness and capability in handling advanced weapons in detecting, tracking and destroying hostile targets, firing real missiles.

More over regarding Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in a phone call with the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, called today for exerting effective influence on the Syrian opposition to help stabilize the situation in Syria.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Lavrov and Clinton also discussed working with the Syrian sides within the framework of the Arab work plan.

In a related context, Lebanese Defense Minister, Fayez Ghusun, confirmed on Tuesday information on operations taking place at Syrian-Lebanese illegal crossing points including arms smuggling and entry of terrorist members of al-Qaeda as Syrian opposition.

In a meeting with a delegation of Lebanese army senior officers, he pointed out to the efforts exerted by the Lebanese army to monitor the borders between the two countries to prevent smuggling.

He stressed that preventing smuggling is the responsibility of the army and security forces, adding that it is a national responsibility for all Lebanese sides.