Berri Urges Lebanese Not to Exploit Developments in Syria to Achieve Political Gains
Speaker Nabih Berri considered on Wednesday that Lebanese parties shouldn't depend on an “expected” attack on Syria by Western countries to achieve personal gains locally.
“There are principles that organize the ties between the Lebanese and they can't be modified,” Berri said in comments published in As Safir newspaper.
He pointed out that the Lebanese don't add anything to the ongoing conflict in the neighboring country Syria.
The speaker warned that the turmoil in the region only benefits Israel.
Berri stressed that any western military intervention in Syria aims at preventing any of the conflict parties to achieve gains, saying that “Israel and the United States want to exhaust Syria.
U.S. forces are gearing up to strike Syria, though the West insists its goal is not regime change but to punish President Bashar Assad's government for unleashing chemical warfare on civilians.
The ground for a military intervention was laid out by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who for the first time said last week's attack, thought to have killed hundreds, could only have been perpetrated by Assad's forces.
But the onrushing likelihood of action within days was met with defiance in Damascus, with regime officials pledging to fight any attack with "surprise" measures, while Syrian allies Russia and Iran warned of dire consequences.
Britain and France also moved to back the use of force in Syria, while the White House promised to provide declassified evidence this week to prove that the August 21 chemical attack was the work of regime forces.
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