Syria-Lebanon relationship depends on Syrian attitude toward Lebanon
Coordinator of the March 14 General Secretariat Fares Soueid said in an interview with MTV on Thursday that in order to revive Syria’s relationship with the regional and international community, Damascus must be willing to make concessions and stop interfering in domestic Lebanese affairs.
He urged Syria to demarcate its border with Beirut, disclose information about Lebanese detainees in its prisons and control armed Syria-supported Palestinian factions in Lebanon.
On the regional level, Soueid said that Saudi-Syrian communication channels have remained open since the Kuwait Summit, which took place in March of this year.
He said that Syria requested a summit with all Lebanese parliamentary bloc leaders, including Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri and Speaker Nabih Berri. According to Soueid, the true aim of the meeting is to provide Syria with an opportunity to meddle in Lebanese politics.
“No one can halt the Arabs’ decision to revive relations with Syria,” Soueid said, adding that it is in Lebanon’s interest to have good relations with its neighbor.
In international news, he said that France wants to preserve the recent rapprochement it had with Syria, “since Paris knows Damascus has the ability to control Hezbollah, as well as the security situation in Lebanon.”