Mansour Says Syrian Warplanes 'Not Hostile'
Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has described Syrian fighter jets as “friendly” and not “hostile” after the Lebanese army opened anti-aircraft fire in a border area.
“We should find out the truth. We are waiting for the army leadership to provide us the details and the available information so that we could deal with this issue based on the security agreements signed between the two countries away from politics,” Mansour told al-Joumhouria newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday.
The Lebanese army fired on Syrian aircraft that violated the country's airspace Monday, the first time Lebanon has done so since Syria's uprising broke out nearly three years ago.
The military fired anti-aircraft guns at warplanes after they fired missiles in a mountainous, barren area close to the northeastern border town of Arsal.
“Lebanese territories should not be threatened by Syria” and the other way around, he said.
Mansour called for resolving the issue through the “historic and brotherly ties” that link the two states away from tension, narrow interests, hatred and accusations.
Monday's incident does not affect the nature of relations between the neighboring countries, he said.
Caretaker Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said the army was acting on the government's orders.
The military "has clear and sufficient orders from the political authorities to respond" to such attacks, he said.
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