Report: March 8 Says 'No Choice' but to Hold Talks with Syria over Refugees Crisis
The crisis of Syrian refugees in Lebanon has taken a heavy toll on the country's society, and figures from the March 8 camp believe that the controversial issue of initiating talks with the Syrian government are “necessary to solve the crisis,” al-Joumhouria daily reported on Wednesday.
“Do we want to address the problem of displaced Syrians or not? If we want to deal with that, dialogue with the Syrian government is necessary and every other word is a kind of anesthetizing the people,” a ministerial source from the March 8 alliance told the daily.
“Similarly, if we want to address some of our economic crises, especially the issue of agricultural products we export to Syria, we have no choice but to dialogue with Syria,” added the source as he denounced the latest campaigns against a meeting between Lebanon's Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil and his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem in New York.
“We have already suffered from danger of terrorism, we always called for the need to coordinate with Syria to face it, where is the problem if Minister Bassil met Minister al-Muallem?” remarked the source.
“There is a need for dialogue with the Syrian government on this file and on other common economic files, and about the dangers that threaten us, whether the Israeli threat or the terrorist threat,” concluded the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The source's remarks came against the backdrop of a controversial meeting that Bassil held with al-Muallem on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly that Lebanon took part in.
The move angered many in Lebanon.
In what media reports described as a “protest” at Bassil's move, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq refrained from accompanying President Michel Aoun on a trip he paid to Paris Monday.
Although Lebanon has not cut diplomatic or trade ties with Syria, but it has kept relations at “arms length” avoiding official contacts with the Syrian government.
Lebanon has also adopted a dissociation policy in order to keep the country away from regional conflicts after the Syria war broke in 2012.
Some political parties in Lebanon including Hizbullah have been pushing the government into normalizing relations with Syria.
8 years
and the ruling junta from the president all the way down say it with a straight face too.
8 years
This is silly. You don't talk to the Syrian regime regarding important stuff, it's no longer the decision makers not even a minor one. You talk to the Russians or Americans they hold the terrain and make the decisions. Now if you needed a licence to dig a well in Tartous, put up some electric wires in Latakia, open a flower shop in Damascus or for a photo op with Bashar then you go to the Syrian regime. It's like Lebanon 1990-2005. The major stuff were handled by Hafez or his heir personally or one of their underlings Khaddam, Kanaan, Ghazali etc.
Lebanon has also adopted a dissociation policy in order to keep the country away from regional conflicts after the Syria war broke in 2012.
the funniest statement of the century!