NICOSIA Ñ Syria, alarmed by rising unrest against its occupation of Lebanon, is said to have taken direct control of the Lebanese military.

Lebanese opposition sources said the regime of President Bashar Assad has ordered a direct takeover of the Lebanese military command.

In addition, the sources said, about 5,000 Syrian soldiers have been incorporated in the Lebanese military. These Syrians now wear Lebanese army uniforms.

The Lebanese military command, in a weekend statement has denied the report and officials have threatened lawsuits. The report was also carried by the Paris-based Al Watan Al Arabi weekly, which reported unrest in the military as a result of Syrian intervention.

Opposition sources said the crackdown on anti-Syrian activists earlier this month was directly led by Syrian commanders in the military and security services. They said the Syrian takeover came after Lebanese President Emil Lahoud hesitated in detaining hundreds of Christian nationalists.

Last week, Lebanese sources said the Syrian army had moved 20 tanks and 100 trucks laden with equipment to the Beirut area.

On Monday, Lebanese sources reported that Israeli artillery fired shells near the disputed Shebaa plateau along the Syrian border with southern Lebanon. Hizbullah agents have been fomenting unrest in the Rajar village divided by the Israeli-Lebanese border.

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