Mansour: FM Not Obliged to Disclose All Exchanged Diplomatic Letters

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stressed on Tuesday that official memos exchanged between the ministry and international embassies follow strict diplomatic customs and traditions that "he is keen on abiding by", noting that not all letters must be disclosed.

"We receive tens of official memos everyday and the ministry is not obliged to announce anything about them to media outlets,” Mansour said in a meeting with media professionals.

"We are doing our job and the ministry executes the cabinet's policy and orders.”

The caretaker FM's comments come days after the March 14 opposition alliance criticized not handing Syria's Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali a letter of protest over Syrian violations of Lebanese territories.

Meanwhile, top Lebanese officials agreed last Monday to submit to the Arab League a letter of protest condemning the spillover of fire from Syria onto Lebanon.

Mansour remarked: “Many diplomatic visits take place in Lebanon without following necessary customs and this is not acceptable. We have repeatedly pointed out to this issue. Ambassadors cannot ask for holding talks with Lebanese officials. Same goes for political leaders as they must follow the protocol assigned by the foreign ministry.”

Syria's Ali denied on Wednesday that Mansour had handed him a letter of protest over the recent cross-border attacks on Lebanon, playing down an attempt to file a complaint with the Arab League.

“I haven’t been delivered and will not be handed over any letter of protest from the Lebanese foreign ministry,” Ali told reporters after holding talks with the Mansour.

This comes after President Michel Suleiman had tasked in March FM Mansour with sending a letter of protest to Syria over air raids in the northeastern border area that violated Lebanese sovereignty.

Suleiman said the air raids were “unacceptable” and “violated Lebanese sovereignty.”

Two people were killed and four others wounded when rockets fired from Syria landed in al-Qasr and Hosh al-Sayyed Ali regions in the northeastern Hermel district earlier in April.

The rebels claimed to have fired the shells, blaming Hizbullah for firing from Lebanon and positions inside Syria on rebel-held areas in the strife-torn Qusayr area in Syria, near the border.