Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun revealed on Tuesday that armed individuals had infiltrated Lebanon in the east, indirectly implying that they had arrived from Syria.

He said after the Change and Reform bloc’s weekly meeting: “We will support Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s position on the possession of arms in Lebanon when the time comes.”

Saboteurs blew up a gas pipeline in the flashpoint Syrian region of Homs on Tuesday, the official SANA news agency reported, as Arab League observers visited the provincial capital.

"An armed terrorist group targeted in a sabotage operation at 3:00 am (0100 GMT) on Tuesday a pipeline carrying gas between Abd Kafar and Rastan," said SANA, referring to towns in Homs, a hotbed of dissent against the regime.

Escaping a city wracked by incessant violence, Syrian Christians from Homs flocked to a nearby monastery on Sunday to celebrate Christmas away from a place that "has gone mad."

The Saint George de Mishtaya monastery, parts of which were built in the sixth century, lies in a lush valley some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Homs which has become a major frontline in the uprising against the regime.

A delegation from the eastern border town of Arsal visited Premier Najib Miqati on Tuesday to condemn accusations that the village is harboring al-Qaida militants.

The delegation to the Grand Serail, led by Municipal Council chief Ali al-Hujairi, urged Miqati to deploy troops near the town along the border with Syria.

Former premier Saad Hariri on Monday said the Arab League should seek a “no-fly zone” over revolt-hit Syria, stressing that “everything must be done” to stop what he called a “massacre.”

“The Arab League should go to the U.N. and (seek) a no-fly zone (over Syria) and if Russia vetoes (the resolution) then a joint force should be formed with Turkey,” Hariri said on the social networking website Twitter.

Arab League observers have arrived in the flashpoint Syrian city of Homs but are unable to do their job, the head of the country's main opposition group said on Monday.

Syrian National Council (SNC) head Burhan Ghalioun told reporters at a Paris news conference that some of the observers were in the besieged city "but they are saying they cannot go where the authorities do not want them to go."

France wants Arab League peace monitors to deploy immediately to the Syrian city of Homs, where regime forces are suppressing a popular revolt, the foreign ministry said.

"The Damascus authorities must imperatively, in accordance with the Arab League plan, allow observers access this afternoon to the city of Homs, where the violence is particularly bloody," spokesman Bernard Valero said.

Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn condemned on Monday the sides that criticized his recent statements that al-Qaida members had infiltrated the Bekaa town of Arsal, accusing them of attempting to question the loyalties of the Arsal residents.

He said in a statement: “My declarations last week were not a product of speculation, but they were based on information we received, which we thought was prudent to reveal to the public.”

Heavy gunfire killed more than 30 people in Syria's besieged city of Homs on Monday as newly arriving Arab League observers were urged to head immediately to one of the country's most serious hot spots.

Media reports said an initial group of 50 observers arrived in Syria Monday evening to oversee a deal aimed at ending a bloody crackdown on anti-regime dissent, while other reports said the monitors' arrival was yet to be confirmed.

Lebanese government officials should exert more efforts to distance Lebanon from the twin Damascus bombings that took place in the Syrian capital on Friday, otherwise the cabinet would appear to be adopting a lax approach in combating terrorism, reported the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper on Monday.

Widely informed sources told the newspaper that President Michel Suleiman’s statements on Lebanon’s rejection of terrorism was the first attempt to ease the government “embarrassment” in this issue.