Suleiman Chairs Meeting on Syria Refugees, Urges Lebanese against Involvement in Syrian Crisis

President Michel Suleiman stressed on Tuesday the need for all Lebanese factions to adhere to the Baabda Declaration that calls for disassociating Lebanon from regional conflicts.

He called on “Lebanese powers against getting dragged into the ongoing fighting in Syria in line with the Declaration.”

He made his remarks after holding talks with caretaker Premier Najib Miqati at the Baabda Palace and after chairing a meeting for the ministerial committee tasked with following up on the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

“Lebanon should be kept away from regional disputes in order to maintain its political and security stability”, especially since the formation of a new government and staging the parliamentary elections should be the officials' main concern, added the president.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour meanwhile informed Suleiman of the number of Syrian refugees currently in Lebanon and their distribution throughout the country.

The president also held talks with head of the Higher Relief Council Ibrahim Bashir on the organization's efforts to aid the refugees.

The number of Syrian refugees who fled the war in their country to Lebanon has soared to more than 400,000, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on April 8, but Lebanese officials say the actual number of refugees has exceeded one million.