The Syrian government of President Bashar Al-Assad has accused foreign fighters, including members of al-Qaeda, of smuggling weapons into the country.

Even a Lebanese minister has said that members of armed groups including al-Qaeda have crossed the border into Syria illegally.

But Omar Bakri, a hardline cleric who Syria claims is the leader of al-Qaeda in Lebanon, said the group was not oeprating in the country.

Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from northern Lebanon.