Mansour to Visit Damascus on Sunday, Says Stability of Syria and Lebanon are Interlinked
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said that Lebanon’s stance at the U.N. Security Council comes out of his conviction that the country shouldn’t adopt any resolution that condemns Syria, As Safir newspaper reported on Friday.
“I believe that we shouldn’t adopt any resolution that condemns Syria, to ensure the security and stability of the two countries,” he stressed.
Lebanon disavowed itself from a council statement condemning Syria's crackdown on opposition protests and calling for those responsible to be held "accountable."
Mansour said: “Lebanon’s stance (at the Security Council) wasn’t disgraceful; we care about Lebanon’s stability and security.”
“Any decision of that kind affects stability in it (Syria), which affects Lebanon negatively,” the daily quoted him as saying.
Sources told As Safir that the stance taken by Lebanon at the Security Council was based on political consensus led by Prime Minister Najib Miqati.
Normally the Security Council document is adopted unanimously. However, Lebanon did not block the adoption, but disavowed the document after.
Meanwhile, An Nahar newspaper reported on Friday that Mansour will visit Damascus on Sunday to meet with President Bashar Assad and his counterpart Walid al-Muallem.
This is the first visit by the Minister to the Syrian capital, the newspaper remarked.
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