Russia: Forces Unable to Destabilize Syria Turn to Lebanon
Forces which have failed to implement their plans to destabilize Syria have turned to Lebanon, Russian’s foreign ministry said on Monday.
"Moscow is seriously concerned by growing internal tensions in Lebanon. It appears that the forces that have failed to realize their plans to destabilize Syria have turned to neighboring Lebanon," the ministry said on its website.
"They clearly dislike this country's government course aimed at preventing foreign intervention in Syrian affairs and facilitating a swift peaceful settlement in Syria on the basis of Kofi Annan's plan approved by the United Nations Security Council, and the actions of military and security agencies opposing arms smuggling attempts and the trafficking of militants," the ministry said.
To attain their goals these forces are trying to stoke tensions among various Lebanese political and sectarian forces, the ministry added.
It called on Lebanese politicians to show restraint and “high patriotic responsibility at this difficult moment for the country and the region.”
“The Lebanese must not follow the lead of those who would like to sow new seeds of sectarian discord and confusion on their land,” the ministry warned.
It hoped that the Lebanese government and security agencies, “acting strictly within the law, shall take whatever steps necessary to restore calm in the country and preserve civil peace and unity.”
Street battles between partisans of the Mustaqbal Movement and the Arab Movement, a small pro-Syrian party, left two people dead and 18 injured on Monday in the Beirut neighborhood of Tariq al-Jedideh, sparking concerns the conflict in Syria is increasingly spilling over into Lebanon.
The violence erupted hours after Sunni cleric Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed and another clergyman were shot dead at an army checkpoint in Akkar.
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