BEIRUT: Syria will no longer accept attacks on its territory from across the border with Lebanon, Syria’s Ambassador Ali Abdel-Karim Ali said in remarks published Saturday and Prime Minister Najib Mikati reiterated his call for Lebanon to uphold its dissociation policy.
“What is required of the Lebanese government is that it carry out its duty on the border with Syria,” Ali told As-Safir newspaper.
“We have no interest whatsoever in creating tensions with Lebanon but at the same time we can never compromise on Syria’s security and sovereignty. We are being attacked and we are no longer willing to accept that – ever,” he said.
Damascus, in a letter sent to the Foreign Ministry Thursday, warned Beirut it would attack Syrian rebels in Lebanon, reiterating its claims that arms and gunmen were being smuggled from the poorly delineated border.
The letter said Syrian forces were still exercising self-restraint by not striking “concentrations of armed gangs inside Lebanese territory in order to prevent them from crossing into Syrian territory.”
“But this will not last indefinitely,” the letter warned.
