The United Nations has information that arms are being smuggled in both directions between Lebanon and Syria, a UN Middle East envoy said Wednesday.

The envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said the Middle East is seeing a spiralling ‘‘dance of death'' because of the conflict in Syria as President Bashar Al Assad confronts opponents.

"Based on information, there are reasons to believe that there is a flow of arms from Lebanon into Syria and from Syria into Lebanon," Roed-Larsen said after briefing the UN Council about events in Lebanon.

"What we see across the region is a dance of death at the brink of the abyss of war," he said.