Britain Expresses its Concern over Sidon Clashes
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Britain expressed on Tuesday its concern over the clashes that took place in the southern city of Sidon over the past two days.
Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt said that he is very worried with the violence in Sidon and the death of a number of Lebanese soldiers in the unrest.
He offered his condolences to the families of the victims, stressing Britain's support for the army and its efforts to maintain peace in Lebanon.
He urged all sides in Lebanon to support the armed forces in the country and commit to the policy of disassociation from the Syrian conflict.
In addition, Burt called on Lebanese powers to reach an agreement over the formation of a new government that can help successfully help Lebanon overcome the current challenges it is facing.
At least 16 soldiers were killed and 50 were wounded in clashes with the armed supporters of Salafist cleric Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in Sidon.
More than 20 of al-Asir's supporters were killed, according to a security official.
Dozens of them were also arrested, but there was no sign of the cleric.
25 June 2013, 17:57
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Pointing fingers is not going to help anyone. Do you want to see a strong Lebanese nation-state? If you don't, continue with your mutterings. If you do, then act in the name of the state and not religion. If one individual derives a small gang of followers from sectarianism, it is not an excuse to make those fractures even larger.
The problem with Lebanon today is that a lot of people, like yourself, have not learned from the follies of the civil war and continue to play into the finger pointing game. I am not the first to say it, and I won't be the last, Khalil Gibran's words continue to speak truth: Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.
