Syrian envoy decries Lebanese border violence

Syria's envoy to Lebanon, Ali Abdul-Karim Ali, on Thursday described clashes along the border between the two countries as violations of Lebanon's policy of dissociation towards the Syrian crisis. “What is taking place on the border between Lebanon and Syria is completely contradictory to the policy of dissociation that the Lebanese authorities have adopted toward the situation in Syria,” Ali said, speaking to the pro-Damascus Hezbollah-owned Al-Nour radio station. He added that humanitarian cases were being used as a pretext to provide extremists with weapons to be smuggled to Syria. Earlier in the week, reports emerged that Syrian authorities were planning to summon 30 Lebanese politicians, including former premier Saad Hariri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, on suspicion of supporting armed groups. Ali said the summonses were a judicial affair but reiterated his call for a resolution to conflicts along the border. “This is the judiciary’s affair and I don’t want to intervene but what is taking place in Lebanon and on the border needs be resolved quickly and this is what Syria has been calling for since the beginning,” he said. He added the two countries must stand together for their own and regional interests, and that "the Israeli enemy has an interest in sedition and spreading division based on denominational and sectarian dimensions in all directions". On what was rumored about Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara defecting from the regime, and the alleged death of Assad's brother, senior military official Maher al-Assad, he said "This is psychological warfare resulting from the Syrian position and successes achieved by the Syrian security forces and the Syrian people, facing this devastating war involving Western, US, and Gulf intelligence, while the media helps spread sedition." Ali’s comments came a day after the opposition March 14 coalition demanded that the government expel the envoy, describing the Syrian embassy as a centre for the administration of bombings and abductions in the country. The Kataeb (Phalange) Party’s youth department held a demonstration outside the Foreign Ministry Wednesday displaying posters asking the Syrian ambassador to “respect us or leave.” In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Adnan Mansour said Thursday there was no reason to expel Ali. “There is nothing that warrants the expulsion of the ambassador or the withdrawal of Lebanon’s ambassador to Syria because of the lack of convincing reasons and motives to do so,” Mansour told Al-Joumhouria, adding that the demand to expel Ali “violates diplomatic norms and principles.” Ali also defended his work and the operations of the embassy, insisting that diplomatic norms have been respected. “The activity of the Syrian embassy in Lebanon, as well as the Syrian ambassador, does not show evidence of any diplomatic violation,” he said. The opposition has also accused Syria of instigating the latest clashes in north Lebanon in a bid to divert attention away from the 18-month uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. The demand for the expulsion comes after the government’s deputy commissioner at the military tribunal earlier this month accused former information minister Michel Samaha and Syrian National Security Bureau head Ali Mamlouk of plotting to assassinate political and religious figures in Lebanon and carry out "terrorist attacks". A Syrian army officer has also been accused of involvement. Following the discovery of the alleged plot, President Michel Sleiman said that he was waiting for a phone call from Assad to clarify the matter. Ali expressed hope that the communication between the two countries would continue unabated. “There is a brotherly relationship between the two countries and there are agreements that organise this relationship and Syria is careful to respect them,” he said. “We hope that coordination remains ongoing at all levels of leadership as this is in the interests of both countries.”