U.N.: Lebanon Continues to Face Challenges over Syria Crisis

The U.N. assistant secretary-general for political affairs warned Tuesday that Lebanon continues to faces security challenges due to the upheaval in Syria.

“The country continues to face challenges to its security and stability, partly due to the crisis in Syria,” Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told a U.N. Security Council session.

He said the situation in the northern city of Tripoli remains fragile although the Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces contained the clashes that erupted between predominantly Sunni and Alawite neighborhoods of Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen earlier in the month.

“There had been additional reports of Syrian army incursions into the northern area of Akkar and in the Bekaa, leaving two people killed,” he told the closed-door meeting.

“In other events, Lebanese citizens had been abducted and taken across the border to Syria; most had been released,” Taranco added.

He hailed President Michel Suleiman in reconvening the national dialogue after a 19-month standstill.

A joint declaration issued by the 16 leaders announced commitment to the policy of disassociation from regional crisis.

On the situation in southern Lebanon, Taranco said calm had prevailed in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) area of operations, as the mission continued to carry out its activities in close coordination with Lebanese Armed Forces.

However, air violations by the Israeli army continued on an almost daily basis, he said.