There are deep flaws in Lebanese-Syrian ties, said Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Thursday adding that as long as they are flawed they will remain an Arab and international political issue.
“If our Syrian brothers are bothered by this, then the solution is simple and it lies in making the relations normal so that they will no longer be present at international and Arab events,” he noted.
Geagea was commenting on yesterday’s Syrian letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon over his report on the implementation of U.N. resolution 1701.
In addition, Geagea pointed out that 65 years ago, Lebanon and Syria were the first Arab countries to earn their independence, so what’s stopping them from demarcating their shared border?
Syria’s letter to the UN
Syria on Wednesday circulated a letter to the UN Security Council, raising concerns over the UN’s role with Syrian-Lebanese relations, citing their continued attempt to “interfere” in the heels of the newest report on the region.
The letter, which was delivered by Syrian UN ambassador Bashar Ja’afari and which was dated July 7, comes in response to UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report, which called upon Syria to ” cooperate” with such efforts with Lebanon to dismantle the Palestinian military bases that “straddle” the border of the two regions.
Ban’s report “continues the attempt to interfere in the development of Syrian-Lebanese relations,” said the letter, taking note that “continued interference” in the countries’ bilateral relations would be “reprehensible.”
alestinians and Lebanese alone,” the letter said.
The letter further emphasized that the role of the United Nations should be to create “conditions that are conducive to positive relations between states.”
In his report to the Security Council, which was released here on Tuesday, Ban said that not enough progress has been made by Israel and Lebanon on key obligations under the Security Council resolution that ended the hostilities of 2006.
He noted with “concern” of the military bases in Lebanon, as well as the “threat that they pose to Lebanon’s sovereignty.”
“The military bases are beyond the control of the state and, with the exception of Naame, near Beirut, straddle the border between Lebanon and the Syrian Arab Republic, posing an added challenge to Lebanon’s control of the border,” Ban said in his report.
According to Lebanese officials, the cooperation of the Syrian government in the efforts to dismantle the bases is “still nascent and requires further development,” Ban said in his report.
“I am confident that progress will be made in this respect in coming months,” Ban said.
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