Jreissati Slams Decision to Exclude Gharib from Brussels Delegation
Minister of State for Presidential Affairs Salim Jreissati on Sunday criticized a decision to exclude State Minister for Refugee Affairs Saleh al-Gharib from a Lebanese official delegation that will represent Lebanon at a Brussels conference on refugees.
“The U.N. refugee agency is more and more heading into Syria to assist the Syrian refugees who are returning to their country, and as we want for the government to endorse its political paper on refugees, we have not understood the exclusion of the state minister for refugee affairs from the official delegation to the Brussels conference,” Jreissati tweeted.
“Disregarding the specialties of the relevant ministers does not contribute to governmental solidarity and the government's productivity,” Jreissati added.
The appointment of pro-Damascus Gharib, who is loyal to MP Talal Arslan and is a member of the Strong Lebanon bloc, has irked Syria's opponents in Lebanon, and a visit by him to Syria without the government's official approval has stirred controversy.
Gharib and his supporters argue that coordination with the Syrian government is necessary to return around 1.5 million Syrian refugees to their country while opponents believe that such calls are of little benefit and are aimed at normalizing ties with the Syrian regime.
Source: Naharnet
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