BEIRUT, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Dai al-Islam Shahhal, the highest fundamentalist Sunni Salafi leader in Lebanon, has warned Syrian President Bashar Assad against his army incursion into north Lebanon, local media reported here Thursday.

    In an interview with the Kuwaiti al-Anbaa newspaper, Shahhal said that he made the warning because it "would open gates of helland lead to similar situation like Iraq."

    Shahhal, whose stronghold is in the northern regions of Lebanon, accused the Syrian command and its Lebanese allies of seeking to trigger conflict between the Salafi Movement and the Lebanese military establishment "in order to drag the whole Sunni community into a conflict".

    He noted that a deal is being concluded through the Syrian-Israeli negotiations to have Syrian forces enter north Lebanon to "finish off the Salafi Movement, as a first step, and other Lebanese factions allied with Syria, as a second step".

    Shahhal warned against "repercussions of any adventure by the Syrian special forces," saying that "such schemes would be confronted by the awareness of Salafi leaders and the Lebanese army command.

    There has recently been press reports and analysis hinting to a possible Syrian military intervention in north Lebanon, especially after Syrian President Bashar Assad said earlier this week that the situation in north Lebanon is posing a danger to Syria's security, following a car bombing attack in Syria last week.