"Bashar's legitimacy comes from the system," said a Lebanese journalist who watches Syria closely.

"It's like a spider's web," said a senior Lebanese journalist.

"He is a son of the system," said a Lebanese journalist who tracks Syrian affairs.

Lebanese and other foreign journalists were not allowed inside.

I passed myself off as a Lebanese journalist.

There they offered angry, threatening statements to waiting Lebanese journalists and then made their way to Beirut.

Three Lebanese soldiers and one Lebanese journalist were killed in the exchange of gunfire.

There were also a number of injured military soldiers and civilians on both sides including Lebanese journalists.

A Lebanese journalist was also killed.

Some Palestinian and Lebanese journalists argued this was a murder.