Asiri Bids Farewell, Regrets Latest 'Developments' in Lebanon

Outgoing Saudi Ambassador Ali Awadh Asiri on Monday expressed regret at the political and security situation in Lebanon, hoping for national unity to preserve stability.

Asiri said that he expressed regret to Speaker Nabih Berri “on the developments in Lebanon and hoped that they would reflect on Lebanese unity.”

The diplomat, who met with Berri in Ain el-Tineh, said unity was needed “to preserve Lebanon's stability, safety and sovereignty.”

Earlier, Asiri met with Prime Minister Tammam Salam to bid him farewell at the end of his mission in Beirut.

Asiri leaves the country as Lebanese troops are locked in gunbattles with Islamist rebels in the northeastern border town of Arsal.

The clashes are the most serious spillover of violence from Syria's civil war into Lebanon.

The three-day fighting in Arsal, an overwhelmingly Sunni town surrounded by Shiite villages, has left scores of troops dead and injured.

They erupted on Saturday after the militants made a cross-border raid and overran army positions in the area following the arrest of a wanted militant.

G.K.

M.T.