Bassil: Eradication of Terrorism in Region is Essential to Stop its Worldwide Spread

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil has told the U.N. Security Council that the international community should launch war on terrorism to stop its spread in the Middle East and the entire world.

“Lebanon considers that the war on terror should be worldwide because terrorism represents a world threat,” Bassil told a Council meeting on terrorism.

“The eradication of terrorism in the region is an essential condition to stop its proliferation in the world,” said Bassil at Wednesday's ministerial-level meeting which was headed by Russia.

The meeting focused on the settlement of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa and countering the terrorist threat in the region.

This month, Russia holds the presidency of the Security Council.

Bassil said Lebanon is fully involved in the war on terror to steer the country and its people clear of radicalism.

He told the Council that the Lebanese army is involved in daily skirmishes with terrorists taking the Lebanese-Syrian border as a refuge.

The threat of al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group rose in August last year when they overran the northeastern border town of Arsal and took with them hostages form the military and police.

Security forces are also pursuing all terrorist networks and sleeper cells in the country, Bassil said.

During an earlier meeting that included the foreign ministers of the European Union and Jordan, Bassil called for the creation of a safe zone in Syria to house refugees.

He said the return of the displaced Syrians to their country was the only solution to the refugee crisis.

Lebanon hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees, amounting to one third of its population.