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The Lebanese government's top security body held an emergency meeting and the Shiite militant group Hezbollah put its fighters on high alert. Lebanon and Syria share a complicated history and a web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries. The uprising against President Bashar Assad has intensified divisions among Lebanese religious groups as well as polarization among those who support him and those backing the rebels fighting to topple him. Lebanon has become completely consumed by the civil war next door. Car bombings, rockets, kidnappings and sectarian clashes - all related to the conflict - have become increasingly common in recent months. Hezbollah, a staunch ally of the Syrian regime, has sent its fighters to back Assad's forces against the rebels and the militant group's leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has suggested he would to do everything it takes to save the regime.
Adding to the jitters, the U.S. said it had instructed its nonessential staff to leave Beirut and urged private American citizens to get out of Lebanon. The step had been under consideration since last week, when President Barack Obama said he was contemplating military action against the Syrian government for its alleged chemical weapons attack last month that killed hundreds near Damascus. "Lebanese government authorities are not able to guarantee protection for citizens or visitors to the country should violence erupt suddenly. Access to borders, airports, roads, and seaports can be interrupted with little or no warning," a State Department statement said. In a separate advisory for Turkey, the State Department announced it would allow personnel at the Adana consulate - the closest diplomatic post to Syria - to leave their posts. It recommended that U.S. citizens defer nonessential travel to southeastern Turkey.
The department also renewed its travel warnings for Iraq and Pakistan, advising Americans of continuing security concerns in those two countries. Both have been the subject of long-standing travel warnings. About 150 people from several pro-Syrian political groups gathered for a peaceful protest near the U.S. Embassy compound north of Beirut, pledging larger rallies in case of a U.S. attack in Syria. Some of them had painted their hands red, symbolizing blood. "The American Embassy is an operations room for the war on Syria," read one banner. "Your rockets and fleets do not scare us," read another. Dozens of riot police in full gear stood on guard, confining the protesters to a square on a road leading to the heavily fortified embassy in the suburb of Awkar. The small protest reflected the potential for a surge in violence in case of military action, not just in Lebanon but across the region.
Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq threatened to retaliate against Washington's interests inside Iraq if the U.S. goes ahead with strikes against Syria, according to Iraqi security officials and militants themselves. Cleric Wathiq al-Batat, who leads the Mukhtar Army, a shadowy Iranian-backed militia in Iraq, said his forces are preparing for a strong reaction against the interests of the U.S. and other countries that take part in any Syria strike. He claimed that militants have selected hundreds of potential targets, which could include both official American sites and companies "associated with the Americans." "There is a good level of coordination with Iran on this issue and I cannot reveal more. But I can say that there will be a strong response," he told The Associated Press. "Each armed group will have duties to carry out."
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Kerry, the Obama administration's chief salesman for a punitive strike, landed late Friday in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. He will meet Saturday with European officials about the Syrian crisis and update them on ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. Kerry is scheduled to meet on Sunday in Paris with representatives of Arab nations and then later in the day hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in London, his last stop before returning to Washington. Mideast peace and other issues are on the agenda for Kerry's talks in all three stops, but the ongoing crisis in Syria where hundreds died in a chemical weapons attack last month will overshadow his visit. While abroad, Kerry is to continue making phone calls to members of Congress.
President Barack Obama decided last weekend to postpone military action against President Bashar Assad's regime in Syria and instead seek the backing of Congress. But a vote on Capitol Hill to authorize a strike is not a certainty and Kerry is using his European trip to shore up international backing. "Those of us who believe in the international order and believe in efforts to ensure that certain international norms against chemical weapons are respected - we have much at stake in this debate," Kerry wrote in an op-ed published on Friday by the Huffington Post. "The world agrees with us: Chemical weapons were used in east Damascus on Aug. 21," he wrote. "Dozens of countries or organizations around the world acknowledge the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and of those, many have said so publicly. Many countries or organizations have also stated in public or in private that the Assad regime is responsible. And we continue building support around the world every day."
Kerry said he plans to meet with European foreign ministers here to lay out evidence that has been collected and seek to broaden support for a limited military response to deter the regime "from launching another chemical weapons attack." The EU is skeptical about whether any military action can be effective, and some Europeans are calling for any action to wait for a report by U.N. inspectors who went to Syria to collect evidence of the alleged sarin gas attack.
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