Suleiman Calls on Syrian Army to Stop Shelling Lebanon, Says Sending Drone over Israel Demonstrates Need for Defense Strategy
President Michel Suleiman stressed on Friday the need for devising a defense strategy that meets the demands of the army and its duties to defend the country and national interests, reported the National News Agency.
He said: “Sending a drone over enemy territories demonstrates the need for a defense strategy that can organize the capabilities of the resistance in defending Lebanon.”
He made his remarks in light of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's acknowledgment on Thursday that his party sent a sophisticated unmanned drone over Israel last week, saying the device was built by the Jewish state's arch-foe Iran.
His acknowledgment came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed at Hizbullah and vowed to defend his country against further "threats."
On October 6, the Israeli air force jets shot down the unarmed drone over southern Israel's Negev desert after it entered the country's airspace from the Mediterranean Sea.
Suleiman stressed that it has become a pressing need to resolve Israel's “daily violations of Lebanon's sovereignty,” noting that Lebanon has repeatedly filed complaints to the United Nations over the matter.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the Akhbar al-Yawm news agency, Suleiman called on both the Syrian regime and opposition to refrain from intervening in Lebanon.
“The Syrian army must exercise restraint and refrain from firing shells at Lebanon or cutting trees like what happened today. It must also refrain from blowing up houses in the area near the border," Suleiman added.
The president stressed that “The Syrian opposition and the Syrian regime must avoid crossing into Lebanese territory.”
And as he reassured that “the Syrian crisis will not spark domestic fighting” in Lebanon, the president noted that “we have taken all the decisions that enable Lebanon to protect itself from the repercussions” of the Syrian conflict.
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