Mansour Says Lebanon to Boycott 'Friends of Syria' Conference
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed on Tuesday that Lebanon will boycott “Friends of Syria” international conference that will be held in Tunis this week.
“In harmony with our decision to disassociate Lebanon from developments in Syria, we will not join the conference in Tunis,” Mansour told OTV.
He stressed that Lebanon’s stance is taking into consideration the country’s best interests.
The Friends of Syria group will meet for the first time on Friday after being created in a response to a joint veto by Russia and China of a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syrian President Bashar Assad for the violence.
The group is backed by members of the European Union as well as some Arab nations and the United States.
The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported on Tuesday that Lebanon is still studying the decision on whether to participate in the conference.
“Lebanon doesn’t want to take part in the conflict (in Syria),” according to foreign ministry sources.
Al-Hayat reported that Lebanon’s response to the invitation sent by Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem hasn’t been made yet.
Lebanon is witnessing a sharp rift between its March 14-led opposition and the March 8 alliance on the developments in Syria.
Activists say more than 6,000 people have died in the Assad regime's 11-month crackdown on dissent.
The foreign ministry sources noted that Lebanon can’t join a meeting that clearly aims at supporting the opposition groups, which would be considered as supporting a side against another.
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