Lebanese President Michel Suleiman warned Saturday the warring parties in Syria not to shell towns and villages on the Syrian-Lebanese border under any pretext.

In a statement, Suleiman said: "Shelling the Lebanese villages and towns close to the border and raiding them by air is unacceptable and is an attempt to drag Lebanon into the Syrian crisis."

He added: "It is unacceptable that innocent Lebanese citizens pay the price for these attempts."

The Lebanese president called on all Lebanese parties to avoid involvement in the Syrian crisis and commit to the Baabda Declaration that calls for self-disassociation from it.

The east Bekaa towns and villages have been targeted recently by shells and missiles from Syria, and the outskirts of Arsal in particular were raided by the Syrian air force on Monday.