Report: Mansour, Abou Faour Bickered over ‘Unidentified Syrian Official’

Claims made by Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour that a Syrian official has expressed frustration at the government’s alleged lack of commitment to agreements signed between the two countries angered ministers loyal to Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, An Nahar reported Thursday.

The newspaper quoted Mansour as telling a cabinet session held at the Grand Serail on Wednesday that a “high-ranking Syrian official” had expressed frustration at the government’s performance in terms of the agreements.

This prompted Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour to ask him who that official was. But Mansour refused to name him.

“We can’t deal with an unidentified (person) and we are not in a position to hear the frustration of anyone,” Abou Faour told Mansour, saying Lebanon should instead express frustration at the killing of anti-regime protestors in Syria.

The verbal dispute between them came against the backdrop of discussions on the ship intercepted by the Lebanese navy last Friday for carrying three containers of weapons from Libya.

“Let’s not jump into conclusions by accusing certain politicians,” Abou Faour told the cabinet after reports that Lebanese officials could have been involved in the case and the arms were meant to assist Syrian rebels.

Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, who is also loyal to Jumblat, urged the cabinet members to resort to the accurate information provided by the security agencies on the issue rather than making illusionary statements.