Syria civil war threatens to pull Lebanon into conflict - U.N

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations expressed renewed concern on Tuesday that Lebanon could be drawn into Syria's worsening two-year-old civil war, which the world body said had developed sectarian overtones and been aggravated by foreign fighters and extremist groups.

U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman painted what he called an "appalling picture" of the conflict that began as peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad and turned violent when government forces tried to crush the demonstrations. The United Nations says almost 70,000 have been killed in the war.