The daily Al Mustaqbal, citing sources who confirmed the cross-border penetration, did not say when the procedure in the Fahs Hill overlooking Deir al-Ashaer in the Rashaya province took place.

The sources said Syrian troops, backed by bulldozers, were fortifying positions "in more than one area" along the Lebanese border, erecting earth mounds and digging "hundreds" of trenches and individual bunkers.

According to Ahmed Yasseen , a local analyst, it is expected that the Lebanese government will raise hell about Syrian incursion into Lebanon and most certainly will go to the UN security council and submit an official complaint , which will most certainly call for immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.

Syria occupied Lebanon for nearly 3 decades but pulled out its troops in April 2005 after a huge demonstration of the Cedar revolution and international pressure led by the US and France, following the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri . Syria was blamed for the assassination but it denied any responsibility

Other developments

Syria on Wednesday reopened the Joussia-Qaa border post with Lebanon, but two crossings stayed closed.

Syria's state news agency SANA had said the closure of Jussia-Qaa on June 20 would stay in place "until calm has returned to northern Lebanon," where the Lebanese army has been locked in gun-battles with militants from Fatah al-Islam.

On May 20, at the outbreak of the clashes in Lebanon that have eased in the past week, Damascus shut two other border posts, at Arida and Dabussiya, keeping in place the main Masnaa crossing on the Beirut-Damascus highway.

There was no immediate confirmation from Damascus of the reopening of the Jussia border post linking Syria to eastern Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.

Lebanon's anti-Syrian majority charges that Fatah al-Islam have links to Syrian intelligence, an allegation denied by Damascus.

Picture: The Cedar Revolution protest on March 14, 2005 called on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. Over 1 million Lebanese participated in the largest protest in Lebanon's history

Sources: Naharnet, Ya Libnan