Report: Salam to Request Security Council to Convene over Arsal
Prime Minister Tammam Salam is expected to urge on Saturday the United Nations Security Council to meet to tackle the latest developments in the northeastern border town of Arsal, reported An Nahar daily.
It said that he was prompted to take the decision in light of the attack against the army in the area on Friday and the escalation of attacks by gunmen in the outskirts of the town.
The premier is scheduled to travel to New York city next week to attend the U.N. General Assembly, where he is set to address the case of Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Salam will call on the international community to aid Lebanon as it can no longer support the burden of the displaced, “especially since donor countries have only presented 17 percent of their pledges in this matter.”
“Supporting Lebanon takes place through actions, not words,” he said.
The prime minister had received on Friday a proposal by Kataeb Party MP Sami Gemayel to hold an extraordinary cabinet session to tackle the latest developments in Arsal.
The Central Security Council has already been called to convene on Saturday to address the latest security developments.
Two soldiers were killed and three wounded in a roadside bombing in Arsal on Friday.
The terrorist attack came hours after the army said it had arrested a Lebanese and two Syrians in the area of al-Mesyada in Arsal.
The Syrians admitted to belonging to terrorist organizations, the military added.
Arsal, close to the border with Syria, was the scene last month of a major battle between the Lebanese army and jihadists who had streamed across the frontier.
At the end of the clashes in August, the jihadists took with them soldiers and policemen as captive, and two of them have since been beheaded, while conflicting reports have emerged on Saturday over the execution of a third.
M.T.
D.A.
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