Kataeb Urges Govt. to Order Deployment of Army along Syria Border

The Kataeb Party warned on Monday that the developments along Lebanon's border with Syria in the east “bring the country back into the circle of danger,” urging the adoption of protective measures to tackle them.

It said in a statement after its weekly politburo meeting: “The government should take the decision to deploy the army along the border with Syria.”

The army should pursue armed groups within Lebanese side of the border, it explained.

The party also demanded that the government ask the United Nations Security Council to dispatch international troops, now deployed in the South, to assist the army in adherence to Resolution 1701.

“The current situation obligates the Lebanese to overcome their disputes and stand united with government and army in order to stay clear of conspiracies,” said the Kataeb.

For about a week, Hizbullah and Syrian regime forces have been waging a battle against armed groups for control of Syria's al-Qalamoun region that abuts the Lebanese-Syrian border.

Addressing the ongoing vacuum in the presidency, the Kataeb remarked that it has become “a threat to Lebanon's system and entity, while harming the democratic traditions.”

The vacuum is leading the country to vacancies on all fronts, it warned.

It therefore demanded political forces to “reach a roadmap that would end all forms of vacuum and paralysis caused by the presidential deadlock, starting with staging the polls.”

Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014 when the term of Michel Suleiman ended without the election of a successor.

Ongoing disputes between the rival March 8 and 14 camps over a compromise candidate have thwarted the polls.

M.T.

Y.R.