Mansour Heads to Cairo: We Will Take Position that Supports Syria
Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour stated on Sunday that Lebanon will not take a position that would harm Syria’s security and stability during the Arab foreign ministers’ meetings scheduled to take place in Cairo later on Sunday.
He added: “Lebanon will take a stand that supports Syria and its efforts to implement reform.”
The minister made his statements from the airport ahead of traveling to Egypt to take part in the conference.
“We hope Arab consensus would be reached over Syria and the region’s higher interests,” Mansour stressed.
In August, Lebanon disavowed itself from a U.N. Security Council statement condemning Syria's crackdown on opposition protests and calling for those responsible to be held "accountable."
Mansour had stated that Lebanon can’t support any resolution that condemns the Syrian regime at the Security Council.
The Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo to discuss Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests at the request of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The oil-rich Gulf states in the council had called for the emergency Arab meeting to address the mounting bloodshed in Syria as Damascus shows no let-up in its deadly crackdown on protests.
Arab foreign ministers already met in Cairo on September 13 and called on the Syrian authorities to "immediately stop the bloodshed," drawing a testy response from Damascus.
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi had met Assad three days earlier and presented him with a 13-point document outlining Arab proposals for reform.
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