Syria Will Pay a High Price If It Does Not Meet Its Commitments
MP Samir Franjieh said that the Syrian regime would pay a high price if it does not follow through with its commitments towards Lebanon.
Franjieh told the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper on Saturday that the international community was discussing the three issues that could threaten the Syrian regime: the Special Tribunal on the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the Iranian and Syrian nuclear programs.
“Syria is being watched closely and if it does not fulfill its commitments it will pay a high price, for this time international isolation would be fatal,” he said.
Franjieh said that Syria should cooperate with international bodies with regard to the issue of Iran’s nuclear program, the development of indirect negotiations with Israel into direct negotiations under French supervision and relations with Lebanon.
Franjieh noted that, in order to normalize ties with Lebanon, Syria is required to establish diplomatic bilateral relations, finalize border demarcation, release Lebanese citizens from Syrian jails, close camps run by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s General Command’s leader Ahmad Jibril in the Bekaa Valley as well as refraining from becoming involved in domestic Lebanese affairs.
He said the Special Tribunal was not subject to negotiations between the French and Syrian governments.
He added that the Syrian regime had eliminated all possible witnesses in the investigation into Hariri’s assassination so that the international investigation would not hold the head of the regime responsible.
He said that Syria was trying to protect itself through its increased openness with France.