Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said in remarks published on Wednesday that he refuses to summon Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel Karim Ali because “brothers” do not summon each other.
“There is no need to summon Ali because there is no dangerous situation or emergency that calls for that and because brothers do not summon each other,” Mansour told An-Nahar newspaper.
He also said that he was “delaying” the handing over to Ali of a letter of complaint requested by President Michel Suleiman in order to “verify security facts.” Mansour added that there was “no specific date to hand over the letter but it will not take much longer .”
“It is not necessary to hand over a letter of complaint, but a letter of some kind can be handed over in a diplomatic way because violations are not one-sided,” Mansour added.
Al-Manar television reported on Monday that Mansour will not send the letter of complaint to Syrian authorities that President Michel Suleiman had requested over the border violations( by Syria).
Suleiman on Monday accused Syria of violating the Lebanese territories and requested Mansour to send the letter of complaint to Syrian authorities. Suleiman’s protest came after a house in the east of the country was hit by a blast and shells fell on the northern border.
The report by Hezbollah’s Al Manar’s came after Mansour met with the Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon who told As-Safir newspaper in remarks published on Tuesday that he was “surprised” by President Suleiman’s protest against recurrent Syrian border violations.
“Syria is the one supposed to complain, as it is the one that is on the receiving end of gunfire and rockets fired from the Lebanese side… The violations emerging from the Lebanese side harm the brotherly Lebanese-Syrian relations,” Ali added.
Mansour is a member of the Amal movement which is allied with the Iranian an Syrian backed- Hezbollah militant group. Hezbollah has been openly supporting the Syrian regime in its crackdown against the pro democracy protesters . Over 19000 have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011.
The current government is dominated by Hezbollah.
Mansour has been accused on several occasions of acting on orders from Syria , but since Hezbollah dominates the cabinet prime minister Najib Mikati cannot fire him.
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