Lavrov Meets Bassil, Voices Opposition to Foreign Meddling in Lebanese Affairs

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil held talks on Wednesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on the latest developments in Lebanon and the region.

The Russian official stressed during the talks his country's support for Lebanon and its “opposition to meddling in its internal affairs.”

Bassil, of the Free Patriotic Movement, and Lavrov met in Geneva on the margins of the 28th United Nations Human Rights Council meeting.

Lavrov also voiced Russia's constant support in backing “Lebanon's sovereignty, unity, and regional safety.”

The foreign ministers also expressed their concern over terrorist threats to Lebanon's stability “through ethnic and religious incitement.”

For his part, Bassil had declared during his speech before the Human Rights Council on Tuesday that “Lebanon is facing unprecedented political, security, economic, and humanitarian challenges, starting with the threat of terrorism.”

“This terrorism is the product of erroneous policies and conflicting interests in the region,” he remarked.

“Lebanon has found itself at the heart of the global war against terror and it has chosen to be a spearhead in it, whereby it is waging a battle against the Islamic State group and its affiliates,” he added.

“It is presenting the prime of its youth at the alter of martyrdom and it is protecting the entire world from this takfiri ebola that is threatening humanitarian values,” Bassil continued.

A delegation of bishops visited FPM chief MP Michel Aoun in Rabieh on Tuesday to discuss with him the conditions of Christians in the Orient.

There are fears among religious minorities in both Syria and Iraq, who have been repeatedly targeted by the Islamic State group.

During the militants' bloody campaign in both countries, where they have declared a self-styled caliphate, minorities, including Christians, have been repeatedly targeted and killed, driven from their homes, had their women enslaved and places of worship destroyed.

The abductions of more than 220 Christian Assyrians by the IS in northeastern Syria last week have added to the existing fears.

IS and al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front are entrenched on Lebanon's eastern border region.

The army has waged sporadic clashes with these groups over the past few months in an attempt to thwart their infiltration of the country.

M.T.

G.K.