Report: Syrian Letter to U.N. an Attempt to Return to Lebanon
The Syrian letter sent to the U.N. Security Council claiming that al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood are involved in incidents along the Lebanese-Syrian Border is merely an attempt by the Syrian authorities to intervene in Lebanon, An Nahar newspaper reported.
Informed sources told the daily that the Syrian allegations coincide with calls made by a well-known political party in northern Lebanon for the Syrian army to re-enter the country.
Head of the Arab Democratic Party Rifaat Eid hinted on Wednesday that calm will not be restored in Tripoli without the return of an “Arab army” to Lebanon, noting that Syria is capable of undertaking such a mission.
However, Eid noted on Friday that his statement were taken out of context, saying that “in case we entered the unknown then the United Nations will demand the Syrian army to enter northern Lebanon and resolve the crisis as it knows the area better than any other Arab army.”
Eid had voiced his remarks in the wake of several days of deadly sectarian clashes in Tripoli that have left more than 10 people dead and over 100 wounded.
The army is expected to issue during the upcoming hours a statement to respond on the Syrian letter, according to sources.
Bashar al-Jaafari, Syria’s U.N. envoy, addressed a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Friday claiming that al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood are involved in incidents along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The letter claims that “arms depots” have been created in Lebanon’s border areas, noting that the alleged weapons are being shipped “by sea or on planes belonging to certain countries, which are shipping arms to Lebanon with the aim of smuggling them into Syria.”
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