Aoun to Guterres: Pompeo Visit Heralded Positive Developments in Refugee File
President Michel Aoun has told U.N. chief Antonio Guterres that the latest visit to Lebanon by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has ushered in “positive developments” regarding the Syrian refugee file.
Aoun met Guterres on the sidelines of the Arab Summit in Tunisia.
The National News Agency said Aoun told the U.N. chief that Lebanon’s priority is “the return of Syrian refugees to their country.”
This would “alleviate the heavy burden that it is shouldering as well as the repercussions of the refugee crisis on all sectors,” the president told Guterres.
“Lebanon will continue to organize Syrian refugee convoys to safe Syrian regions,” Aoun went on to say, noting that 171,000 refugees have so far returned home from Lebanon in this manner.
The president also noted that Pompeo’s visit “heralded positive developments in this regard” and that “he reflected in his testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives a change in the U.S. stance regarding the necessity for the return of the refugees to Syria.”
As for the situation on the border with Israel, Aoun underscored “Lebanon’s respect for (U.N. Security Council) Resolution 1701 and its stipulations,” noting that “Israel is continuing its land, sea and air violations” and “violating Lebanese airspace to carry out airstrikes on Syria.”
The president also called on the U.N. to “help it demarcate its maritime border and to convince Israel of responding to this desire.”
Guterres for his part expressed the U.N.’s inclination to “continue to work on achieving stability in Lebanon, in cooperation with the new government, the U.N. organizations and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL),” adding that the U.N. wants to “preserve the border’s security and stability.”
He also stressed “the importance of boosting cooperation between the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL to implement Resolution 1701 as part of preserving Lebanese sovereignty.”
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