U.S. Urges Syria to Respect Lebanon's Sovereignty

The U.S. State Department urged “all parties in the Syria conflict to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon” after Syrian warplanes pounded earlier on Wednesday a house on the outskirts of the eastern border town of Arsal.

“We’re frankly not in a position to confirm this ourselves at the moment. But if in fact it is confirmed by the Lebanese side, it would represent the latest and most egregious violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty … in the Syrian conflict,” said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

“We maintain our longstanding commitment to U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1559 and 1701, and we call on all parties in the Syria conflict to respect the sovereignty of Lebanon,” she said.

The house that was attacked on Wednesday belongs to a member of al-Awad family, the state-run National News Agency reported, adding that the shelling only caused material damage.

Asked about the latest travel warning issued by the State Department, Nuland said: “Our concerns ... were particularly with regard to border areas where we’ve seen both indiscriminate firing by the regime, we’ve also seen kidnapping, we’ve also seen extremists of one side or the other operating, so that we needed to warn Americans.”

“It’s primarily a reflection of the violence that is spilling over from Syria,” she added.

The advisory issued on Monday said “U.S. citizens living and working in Lebanon should understand that they accept risks in remaining and should carefully consider those risks.”

It supersedes a warning issued in September to emphasize information on security, kidnappings, and an upsurge in violence in Lebanon and the region.