Lebanon warns Syria against border incursions

Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Adnan Mansour, has sent a memo to the Syrian authorities asking them to avoid entering Lebanese territory. Mansour announced the move on Wednesday at Baabda Palace shortly before a cabinet meeting got under way that was presided over by President Michel Sleiman. Earlier, in remarks carried by several newspapers, Mansour had said that he would not send a letter of protest, but a memo that “would draw [Syria’s] attention to the incidents along the northern and Bekaa [eastern] borders”. On Monday Sleiman asked Mansour to deliver a letter of protest to Syria’s Ambassador Ali Abdel-Karim Ali over Syria’s repeated violations of the Lebanese border. Ali responded (orally) to Sleiman’s as yet unwritten letter, which was considered a violation of diplomatic norms. Speaking to Al-Mayadeen satellite news channel, Ali said: “Syria should be filing complaints because its border posts are being attacked from Lebanese territory.” His comments provoked critical reaction and demands for him to be censured. But Mansour said it is unnecessary to summon Ali “because there is no emergency” that requires action. “There is no need to summon Ambassador Ali over his response to President Michel Sleiman, because there is no emergency or dangerous or important case that requires this [action],” Mansour said in remarks published in An-Nahar Wednesday. “Summoning does not take place between brethren,” he added, stressing that the letter would not be a protest “but a diplomatic memo, as the violation [of the border] is not one-way.” Meanwhile, Future Movement MP Nuhad Mashnouq said he would ask the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee to call a session to discuss Ali’s response to Sleiman. “Lebanese authorities should have demanded the expulsion of the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, because he had previously made similar remarks,” Mashnouq told An-Nahar in remarks published Wednesday.