Aoun Urges 'Distribution of Burden' of Syrian Refugees and Wounded, Warns against 'Crippling' Constitutional Council
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Tuesday said countries sponsoring and arming the Syrian opposition must share the “burden” of the refugees and wounded who arrived in Lebanon from the war-torn country, warning that “crippling” the Constitutional Council will lead to “unknown repercussions.”
“They have been mentioning camps for Syrian refugees in Lebanon and I've heard remarks by the EU's ambassador that it is impossible for Lebanon to bear this burden and we've heard the social affairs minister's remarks, and we tell them, 'thank God you've woken up,'” Aoun said after the weekly meeting of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc in Rabiyeh.
“According to which treaty the wounded have arrived in Lebanon and where will they go to after their health improves? Will they continue their heroism on our territory? We ask the ministries: under which legal obligation you have received them and is there an agreement with the Red Cross about their repatriation?” Aoun wondered.
Dozens of wounded Syrian rebels have arrived at hospitals in Lebanon in recent days after they incurred injuries in the battle for the strategic town of Qusayr, which was eventually recaptured by Syrian regime forces after key support from Hizbullah elite fighters.
“Why don't they send them to their countries given the remarks about the losses incurred by the health institutions? Why don't we share the burden with the countries that armed them?” Aoun asked.
“Large parts of Syria have been returned to state control and nothing prevents the creation of camps -- for example in Qusayr for Qusayr's residents -- and they would help rebuild their houses,” the FPM leader suggested.
He stressed that it is important to distribute the burden to a group of countries.
Syrian pro-government forces captured the town of Qusayr on Wednesday after a nearly three-week assault by President Bashar Assad's troops backed by elite fighters of Hizbullah.
Scores of civilians have also poured this week into the Lebanese town of Arsal.
The U.N. says it has registered around 500,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon, but Lebanese officials say their number has exceeded one million.
Turning to the issue of the challenge filed against the extension of parliament's term before the Constitutional Council, Aoun warned that “crippling the Constitutional Council through the absence (of some of its members) is a very dangerous step, and this is the only institution that has not been crippled until now."
"We urge the parties concerned to take this thing into consideration or else we will face unknown repercussions," Aoun added.
Answering a reporter's question, he said: “Lowering the extension period to 6 months is a rumor and I won't comment on the ruling before it is issued.”
“The political forces that crippled the Constitutional Council are well-known,” he noted.
The Constitutional Council, which was set to study petitions filed against the extension of parliament’s term, failed to convene on Tuesday over lack of quorum, a sign that several of its members intended to validate the extension law.
The approval or the rejection of the petitions filed by President Michel Suleiman and the Change and Reform bloc requires the go-ahead of seven out of the council's 10 members.
But a lack of quorum would make the 17-month extension law valid after the end of parliament's mandate on June 20.
Separately, Aoun said: “I'm not following up on the cabinet formation process and no one has asked me any question.”
Commenting on the outcry of the Economic Committees, a grouping of the country's businessmen and owners of major firms, Aoun said: "The Economic Committees always voice objections in a non-technical manner ... and those lamenting growth over Hizbullah's involvement in Syria are short sighted."
“It was not the issue of Qusayr that closed our border and this is politicization, not economy,” he added.
Source: Naharnet
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