March 14 General Secretariat Demands Deployment of Army, UNIFIL on Border with Syria

The March 14 General Secretariat called on Wednesday for a campaign to demand the Lebanese cabinet to address the possibility of controlling the country's border with Syria.

“We recommend the launching of a political-diplomatic-media campaign to press the government to discuss the possibility of deploying the Lebanese army and the international peacekeepers in accordance with (U.N. Security Council) resolution 1701,” the general secretariat said after its weekly meeting.

The March 14 alliance continuously called on the state to allow the UNIFIL to deploy along the the Lebanese-Syrian border in accordance with resolution 1701, however, it was met with complete objection.

Resolution 1701, which ended the Hizbullah-Israel war in 2006, expanded the mandate of UNIFIL in the South, which was originally formed in 1978 after the outbreak of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The general secretariat also expressed solidarity with the army and the cabinet, praising the exerted efforts to ensure the safe release of security personnel, who were taken captive by Islamist gunmen in the northeastern town of Arsal.

“The Lebanese must fully back the army amid the critical stage Lebanon is passing through,” the statement pointed out.

Clashes erupted between troops and extremist fighters on August 2 after jihadists from Syria attacked army and police posts in Arsal after the arrest of a militant accused of belonging to the al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front.

During the fighting, at least 35 soldiers and policemen were seized by the militants and are still being held hostage.

The March 14 general secretariat expressed concern over the direct negative repercussions of the regional developments on the country amid the ongoing presidential vacuum.

“The continuous and deliberate obstruction of presidential polls by Hizbullah and its allies increased fear among the Lebanese,” the statement noted.

Attendees expressed belief that electing a new head of state would provide the country with the necessary unity shield and dismantle sedition and violence.

Lebanon plunged in a vacuum on May 25 when President Michel Suleiman's six-year term ended with MPs unable to find a successor over differences on a compromise candidate.

The March 14 general secretariat then held a meeting in solidarity with its member Naufal Daou who survived on Saturday an armed ambush at the intersection of the Bekaa town of al-Tibeh.

H.K.

G.K.