Shami’s Instructions to Salam Draw March 14 Ire; Berri Rejects Any Statement that Harms Syria
Caretaker Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami’s latest instructions to Lebanon’s ambassador to the U.N. drew the ire of the March 14 forces that accused him of overstepping President Michel Suleiman and Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri.
Al-Shami instructed Ambassador Nawaf Salam on Tuesday not to approve a draft Security Council statement criticizing Syria for its crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
Lebanon has a non-permanent seat on the Security Council from October 2010 to October 2011.
A March 14 ministerial source criticized “al-Shami’s behavior” in remarks published Wednesday. He told An Nahar daily that the caretaker minister has sent instructions to Lebanon’s representatives in New York by overstepping the country’s top authorities.
The source said that when the March 14 forces asked al-Shami to summon the Syrian ambassador over accusations by Damascus against al-Mustaqbal MP Jamal al-Jarrah, the minister rejected such a move saying it required a cabinet session.
However in the case of a Security Council statement on Syria, al-Shami gave Salam instructions “without resorting to any other institution” in the country, the source told An Nahar.
Meanwhile, President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri discussed the issue during a phone conversation on Tuesday night. The two men informed the caretaker foreign minister that he should send an official memo to Salam stressing the need for Lebanon to reject any move that harms Syria, As Safir daily said.
They also asked the top diplomat to urge the Council to postpone any statement on Syria until after an expected Arab League meeting, the newspaper reported.
“Given its position in the Security Council, Lebanon will never accept a statement that harms Syria,” Berri told As Safir.
But on Tuesday, the Council made little headway in efforts to agree to condemn the violence against protestors in Syria.
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