Tensions rise in Leba**n as Syria extends control over border

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(Adds capture of Ras al-Ain, rockets in Qaa, details) BEIRUT, March 19 (Reuters) - The Lebanese army reopened a road between two towns near the Syrian frontier on Wednesday to try to calm sectarian rivalry that has been aggravated by a Syrian government campaign to tighten its grip on the border region. Shi'ite Muslims from the Lebanese Bekaa Valley town of al-Labwa had erected sandbag barriers at the weekend to cut off the road to Arsal, a Sunni town about 5 km (3 miles) east where they believed hundreds of Syrian rebels had taken refuge. Tensions have been especially high in and around Arsal after Syrian forces and the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah recaptured the Syrian border town of Yabroud from rebels on Sunday, sending a stream of refugees and fighters across the border. Leba**n's border area has been steadily sucked into Syria's three-year-old conflict as President Bashar al-Assad's forces attack nearby rebel bases and suspected Syrian rebels fire rockets at Shi'ite towns to punish Hezbollah for sending fighters to support Assad.

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