SYRIA - July 2 - Syrian Troops, Arab Militant Die In Clash.

Syrian security forces kill an Arab extremist who was trying to illegally cross into neighbouring Lebanon with other suspected militants. Two Syrian soldiers also were killed in the clash that erupted after the Arab man opened fire on a Syrian border patrol, according to the news agency SANA. No details were provided on the nationality of the slain man, who was identified only by his initials M.Z. The report did not say when the clash happened or where along Syria's border with Lebanon it was. The agency said 34 extremists of various nationalities were arrested after the clash. Syrian officials were not available for comment. Security forces searched an isolated house near the border allegedly used by the extremist group where they found passports, identity cards and photocopies of personal documents belonging to various nationalities, SANA said. Syria has been under intense pressure to crack down on suspected militants who the US and Iraq claim are using Syrian territory to infiltrate into neighbouring Iraq to fight coalition forces. Last month, Syrian forces raided the hide out of a group of suspected terrorists near Damascus, killing two and foiling alleged bombing plots. A Syrian security force member was killed in the clash. Security forces had been monitoring the previously unknown group, calling itself Jund Al Sham for Jihad and Tawhid, for several months and broke it up as it was planning to carry out bomb attacks to destabilise security in Damascus and its suburbs. During last month's raid in the Daff Al Shouk suburb of Damascus, Syrian forces seized documents saying the group should fight its holy war, or jihad, in Middle East countries that are run by "despotic regimes", including Syria, "Christian Maronite" Lebanon where the president is a Maronite Catholic and the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. The documents said next on their list should be the "dictators" of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iraq, whose "people have been afflicted by the crusaders". Terrorist attacks are rare in this tightly controlled Arab country run by the Syrian arm of the Baath Party, which has used heavy-handed tactics to crackdown against any form of dissent or instability in the country. In April 2004, two gunmen, a policeman and a passer-by were killed during clashes in a diplomatic quarter of Damascus. Syrian authorities initially described the incident as a terrorist attack but officials later said it was a homegrown, isolated incident.