Mansour Procrastinates in Sending Message of Protest to Syria after Casting Doubt on Air Strikes
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour reiterated on Wednesday that he would do the necessary contacts about the alleged Syrian air strikes inside Lebanese territories upon his return to Beirut after he cast doubt that the attacks took place.
In remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper, Mansour said he would follow up the case when he returns to Beirut “although he was informed during his presence in Nigeria that the alleged Syrian raids in the border areas were rumors.”
He said the Syrian embassy in Beirut has previously delivered several letters to the Lebanese foreign ministry with information about facts on the ground on the Lebanese-Syrian border in the North.
Mansour told NBN TV on Tuesday that “issuing such a complaint requires documents that he doesn’t have with him.”
But Baabda palace sources told An Nahar daily published Wednesday that Suleiman's condemnation of the air strikes that reportedly took place in the northeastern town of Arsal came after military and security officials confirmed that Syrian warplanes had bombed Lebanon.
Suleiman instructed Mansour on Tuesday to send a message of protest to the “Syrian side” so that such operations are not repeated.
He also condemned Syria for carrying out the "unacceptable" air strikes.
But Syria, in its first comments on the attacks, denied it was involved.
"The information being peddled by the Lebanese, Arab and international media claiming that Syria fighter jets bombed inside Lebanese territory is baseless," a foreign ministry official told state news agency SANA.
"The ministry completely denies this information and reiterates that it respects Lebanese sovereignty," the official said.
The denial drew anew the condemnation of Suleiman, who said: “The (Lebanese) Army Command confirmed that the (strikes) did take place."
The shelling came just days after Damascus warned Beirut to stop militants from allegedly crossing the border to fight with rebels.
In a letter of protest, Damascus warned that its forces would fire toward Lebanon if "terrorist cells" continued to infiltrate the country.
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