Suleiman Slams Calls to Send Fighters to Syria
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
President Michel Suleiman called on Wednesday on the Lebanese to abide by the dissociation policy and not to send arms shipments or fighters to the neighboring country Syria.
The president called on different parties not to send “arms shipments and fighters to Syria and not to establish any training bases in Lebanon."
He pointed out that the Lebanese should abide by the dissociation policy and not meddle in the Syrian affairs to safeguard the national unity and prevent any tension locally.
Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. But they have also been reluctant to publicly blame either regime forces or rebel fighters for fire hitting villages and towns near the border with Syria.
Two Salafist clerics Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi and Ahmed al-Asir accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to attack Syrian Sunnis, who make up the backbone of that country's rebellion.
They called on Monday for jihad to defend Sunnis in Syria.
However, Rafehi informed caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday that he is ready to withdraw his call for jihad if Hizbullah ended its involvement in Syria's civil war.
Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando.
Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings.
Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."
24 April 2013, 14:48
310
Mr. President,
it has been over 2 years that hizbushaitan has been sending fighters into Syria to support the regime.
please explain to us why you just decided to speak out?
what is allowed to one party is allowed to all.
and soon you will see more militias on the ground and all that is due to hizbushaitan having weapons and threatening all other Lebanese with those weapons. usurpation of power as has been performed by hizbushaitan has lead to this situation and it is going to get worse before it gets better.... in a few years.
thanks to your cabinet's one eyed policies which allowed for these usurpators of power to take over the country.
24 April 2013, 15:11
25
yes, it is like if he were telling a child not to play with matches when the house is already burning.....
24 April 2013, 20:19
00
Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. But they have also been reluctant to publicly blame either regime forces or rebel fighters for fire hitting villages and towns near the border with Syria.
lol lebanese authorities have officially followed? hizbullah is in the cabinet and parliament and are considered lebanese authorities and have sent weapons and fighter to syria and are training shiaa in lebanon!
24 April 2013, 14:57
12
Great now we have two groups wanting claim jihadi duties in a foreign country.
If these Lebanese choose to remain in Syria it should be at their own risk and should be no business of our ( Lebanese) to protect them. This should fall on the Syrian Govt responsibility to protect them.
24 April 2013, 15:10
02
The president is right, as a good Christian I say turn the other cheek. We should not repay the Baath regime the way it treated us, the Iraqis, Turks etc for 40 years by sending fighters and terrorists over to murder, destabilize, meddle and fuel the civil war under any pretense. Whether we call it Sunni Jihad, Jihadist duty or defending Lebanese Shiites living in Syria since the turn of the last century, everywhere else they call them Shiite Syrians. We certainly should not send over our rendition of Michel Samaha with bombs, explosives and a license to terrorize and kill and cause sectarian troubles.
24 April 2013, 19:41
00
I think it's fine. Send them fighters to Syria. And leave no salafist/hisballah fighter behind. Take m-14&m-8 politicians with them. It's the only way we can clean up this country.
24 April 2013, 23:05
00
If you are familiar with the Satirical Monty Python Life of Brian film, this scene depicts perfectly the messy situation of the Lebanese or Arab parties who want to compete in the liberation or resistance or whatever... So true:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHHitXxH-us
