Lebanon asks Iran to explain Guards' presence

BEIRUT (AFP) - President Michel Sleiman demanded on Monday that Iran provide an official explanation as to why members of its Revolutionary Guards have been sent to Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Guards commander said members of his elite special operations unit, the Quds Force, were in Syria and Lebanon but only to provide "counsel." "President Sleiman asked for an official explanation from the relevant Iranian authorities," his office said.

Lebanon is divided into two political camps - one supported by Syria and Iran, the other backed by the West.

Iran provides political and military support to the powerful Shi'ite group Hizbollah, which plays a central role in the current Lebanese government, and to its militia.