Mansour Plays Syrian Threats, Says Damascus has no Interest in Creating Tension
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Lebanon and Syria had no interest in turning their border area into a scene of tension as a Lebanese man was injured from renewed cross-border shelling.
“Lebanon has absolutely no interest in turning Lebanese territories to a path or base to any military action,” Mansour, who is accompanying President Michel Suleiman in his African tour, told al-Joumhouria daily published Saturday.
“Neither Lebanon nor Syria have an interest in turning the border into a region of tension,” he said.
Mansour made his comments as the state-run National News Agency reported that Zuhair Mustafa was injured on Friday night after shells from the Syrian side of the border landed on his village of Qashlaq in the norther Akkar district.
Similar shelling took place in the outskirts of the towns of Janine, Hakr Janine, al-Noura, al-Dbabiyeh and Amar al-Baykat, NNA said.
Lebanon has already seen a spillover of the Syrian conflict in recent months, with frequent clashes in the northern and eastern areas of the country.
Syrian troops have also on several occasions fired shells over the border, while the Damascus regime has accused Lebanon of allowing Sunni fighters to cross illegally into Syria to join the rebels.
On Thursday, it warned that its forces would fire into Lebanon if "terrorist gangs" continued to infiltrate the country.
In a letter of protest to Lebanon, it said: “Armed terrorist gangs have infiltrated Syrian territory in large numbers from Lebanon.”
"Syrian forces have confronted these gangs and clashes are continuing," the foreign ministry said.
But Mansour played down the tension in the border area, telling al-Joumhouria that security agencies should play their role in restoring security in the region.
“The tension would have repercussions that would not be in favor of the two countries' stability,” he said, warning against turning Lebanon into another Tora Bora in Afghanistan, in reference to the cave complex where Osama bin Laden and top Taliban leaders were believed to be hiding in the country's eastern mountains when U.S. forces attacked in 2001.
Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali echoed similar remarks, telling As Safir newspaper that Syria doesn't have an interest in having tense relations with Lebanon.
“Yet we can't compromise the security and stability of Syria,” he said. “We are under attack and we won't accept that.”
But March 14 opposition sources told al-Joumhouria that “Damascus would not waste any chance in transferring its battles to Lebanon.”
They accused Mansour of implementing the orders of Hizbullah in increasing tension in the country.
The opposition backs the revolution against Syrian President Bashar Assad. But the Hizbullah-led March 8 forces are staunch supporters of his regime.
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