Lebanon Live Blog

The head of Russia's Orthodox Church will travel to Damascus this weekend for meetings that include talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the Church said on Friday.

Patriarch Kirill will meet Assad on Sunday during his trip, which will also include talks on Monday in Beirut with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, the Church said in a statement.

The Church did not explicitly tie the trip to the eight months of violence now gripping Russia's traditional regional ally, but a spokesman for the patriarch said Kirill was travelling in a peacemaking role.

"His Holiness the patriarch is travelling to the region with a mission that includes that of peacemaker," Church spokesman Igor Yakimchuk told the Interfax news agency.

"Most likely, he will issue a call for a dialogue between all sides ... that will return the country to political stability."

Kirill will also meet with Ignatius Zakka I, the Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, who is based in Damascus and operates independently while maintaining close relations with Moscow.

According to local media reports in Lebanon, security sources have said that several Syrians have been arrested over the last several weeks for attempting to smuggle weapons across into Syria.

A senior US official will on Monday launch a three-country campaign to firm up sanctions against Syria and to tackle transnational organized crime, the Treasury Department said.

Assistant Secretary Daniel Glaser will travel to Moscow, Beirut and Amman for a week-long visit.

In Jordan and Lebanon, Glaser is expected to press the authorities to "remain vigilant against attempts by the Syrian regime to evade US and EU sanctions."

The financial sectors of both nations are seen by Washington as a possible avenue for Syria to circumvent international sanctions.

The United States on Monday condemned the Syrian army's incursions into neighbouring Lebanon and suggested that dissidents of the Damascus regime had either been killed or taken prisoner at the border, AFP news agency reported.

"Over the course of the lst few weeks, it appears Syrian forces have entered Lebanese territory," a state department spokesman told reporters.

"We are also deeply concerned by indications that Syrian dissidents may have been captured and possibly killed during operations near the border."