See also Middle East Today: Lebanon --- Two Rockets Hit Near Beirut
Saturday's Syria Today: A "Plan B" If International Conference Fails?
After weeks of conflict along the Lebanese border, the Syrian crisis has escalated inside Lebanon.
More than 20 people were killed in the northern city of Tripoli in the past week, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah intervened on Saturday night with a high-profile speech.
Nasrallah called for prevention of conflict inside Lebanon while making clear that Hezbollah will stand alongside the Syrian regime, opposing the US-Israel-Al Qa'eda alliance trying to remove President Assad from power.
Nasrallah's message, as put out by Syrian State news agency SANA, was that "Syria has turned into a battlefield for imposing a political project led by the US and its allies in the region, as Syria is the 'linchpin of resistance'".
This morning, perhaps in response to Nasrallah, someone fired two Grad rockets into a southern Beirut suburb, injuring five people.
Claim: 22 Hezbollah Fighters Killed in Battle for Qusayr
AFP claims, from a "source close to" Hezbollah, that 22 members of the Lebanese organisation were killed fighting on Saturday alongside Syrian regime forces for control of the town of Qusayr.
The source said the group has now lost a total of almost 110 fighters since it joined the battle in Syria several months ago, with most of the deaths in and around Qusayr.
Regime troops have been trying for the last two weeks to claim the town near the Lebanese border and 18 miles from Homs, Syria's third-largest city.
Regime Says It Will Join International "Peace Conference"
Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has said that the regime has agreed "in principle to participate in the international conference which is supposed to be convened in Geneva" in June: "We think...that the international conference represents a good opportunity for a political solution to the crisis in Syria."
Muallem, during a sudden visit to Iraq, criticised foreign actors supporting the insurgency: "The regional countries that conspire against Syria are the same that support terrorism in Iraq."
Russian officials said earlier in the week that the Assad regime had agreed to take part in the conference. However, the opposition Syrian National Coalition has said that it wants guarantees that President Assad will step down during a transitional government.
The Violations Documentation Center reports that 61,541 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict since March 2011, an increase of 83 from Saturday. Of the deaths, 47,900 were civilians, a rise of 37 from yesterday.
The regime siege and shelling of Qusayr, near the Lebanese border and 18 miles from Homs, in continuing --- claimed footage from activists this morning: