The leader of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammed Raad defended on Thursday the remarks made yesterday by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour on Syria during the Arab League ministerial meeting in Cairo , saying that they accurately reflect the Lebanese government’s policy of disassociation with regards to Syria.
โHis statements accurately reflect Lebanon’s official stance on Syria.โ Raad said in a statement.
Raad described Mansour’s remarks as s โpositiveโ adding:
โHis remarks expressed his keenness on the safety of the entire region and the interests of its people that are being affected by the ongoing developments in Syria.โ
Raad blasted the opposition for condemning Mansour’s remarks.
Arab League ministers debated on Wednesday whether to award Syria’s vacant seat in the regional bloc to the opposition Syrian National Coalition, diplomats said. They said ministers meeting in Cairo were divided on whether to let the opponents of President Bashar al-Assad take over Syria’s seat, previously held by the Damascus government.
Damascus was suspended from membership of the Cairo-based League in November 2011, eight months into what began as a peaceful popular uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
But Mansour objected the move and told the Arab League ministerial meeting: โI call for Syriaโs membership of the Arab League to be lifted,โ adding โCommunication with Syria โฆ is essential for a political solution.โ
โWe have held meetings over two years and taken decision after decision thinking that with them we will be providing Syria with security and stability by removing the regime and replacing it with another โ while Syria sank into blood and destruction,โadded Mansour.
Qatar, which has led efforts at the League against Damascus, blamed Assad for nearly two years of bloodshed in Syria in which an estimated 70,000 people have been killed.
โThe person who brought a sea of blood is Bashar because he did not commit to the Arab decisions and did not cooperate with us,โ Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani told the meeting.
Mansour was accused on Wednesday by former PM Saad Hariri of acting on behalf of the Syrian regime when he called for lifting Syriaโs suspension from the Arab League .
โWhat kind of a dissociation policy is this and who authorized him to speak on behalf of the Syrian regimeโ , Hariri was quoted as saying โ .
He asked: โIs he the Foreign minister of Lebanon or Syria ?โ
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikatiโs government is dominated by Hezbollah which has been supporting the Syrian regime in its crackdown against the uprising . Mikati according to observers cannot fire Mansour for disobedience because he is a member of the Amal party which is headed by Speaker Nabih Berri a key ally of Hezbollah.
Mikati, along with president Michel Suleiman have sought to follow a policy of โdissociationโ from the conflict in Lebanonโs dominant neighbor, but they are powerless since the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group calls all the shots now in Lebanon , according to observers
One million refugees have fled Syria, piling pressure on its neighbors the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday. Lebanon, which is hosting the largest number of Syrian refugees despite being the smallest country in the region is struggling to support them.
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