Syria Wants Lebanon To 'Stay Out' of Its War
Syria on Wednesday said it wants Lebanon “to stay out” of its ongoing war, amid reports about an anticipated western strike on the neighboring country.
"We want Lebanon to stay away from the negative repercussions that are affecting the region,” Syria's ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari stated in a speech he gave at the headquarters of the U.N. in New York.
Al-Jaafari elaborated: "The results of regional turmoil can include terrorist operations launched by Salafist groups just like those that targeted (the southern city of) Sidon and (the northern city of) Tripoli.”
Syria does not want Lebanon to be a side in this war, he stressed.
Regarding Hizbullah's possible participation in the war, the Syrian envoy said: “If Israel launched an attack on Syria, we all know what would be the repercussions of such a step.”
Momentum has been building for international action against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime after the suspected chemical strikes on August 21 which are said to have killed hundreds on the outskirts of Damascus.
However, Syria's deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said the West had pushed anti-regime rebels to use poison gas, while blaming it on the government, as a pretext for a U.S.-led military intervention.
The neighboring country's premier Wael al-Halqi warned on Wednesday that Syria will turn into a "graveyard of the invaders" in case of a Western military intervention.
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