Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused Lebanon of providing shelter for the al-Qaida linked militants who fled Syrian crackdown recently, the official Syria Times newspaper reported on Tuesday.

In a wide-ranging interview with the London-based pan-Arab al- Hayat newspaper published on Monday, Assad said that some of al- Qaida linked groups were chased by Syrian security forces into Lebanon through the mountainous routes.

"When Syria was present in Lebanon, al-Qaida was there, but in a very limited way," Assad said.

Syria ended a 29-year military presence in its small neighbor in April 2005 following massive anti-Syrian protest over the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Syrian security forces have clashed several times with Islamist militants since last summer.

Source: Xinhua