The Lebanese Forces was the only party to object in government to the Lebanese ambassador presenting his credentials to Bashar Al Assad, and advised to follow the example of other countries who maintained diplomatic ties with Syria without presenting their credentials to a president who no longer represents a country witnessing a devastating civil war and under foreign influence.
The Lebanese Forces showed fierce objection to the attempts of the pro-Syrian parties in Lebanon who were pushing for a normal relationship with Asad against the Lebanese and Arab administrations, instead, Lebanon is required to have a minimal relationship with Syria attending to the daily details, while awaiting a legitimate administration that represents their country.
Prior to Prime Minister Hariri’s resignation, the Syrian allies in Lebanon were keen on normalizing relations with the Assad regime, as they were intentionally creating a political crisis out of the refugees case and visiting Damascus officially, yet somehow after Hariri’s resignation, stunts of normalization have stopped, meaning that the resignation was indeed effective.
Stopping normalization with Assad’s regime was not a coincidence, the Syrian allies realized that it will not be accepted by the majority of the Lebanese public, leading the country to a never-ending conflict.
On the other hand, the Lebanese political scene was surprised with a statement by the Lebanese Ambassador to Syria saying: “Plans to divide Syria failed since the country endured and will be better than ever”. What’s shocking and sad is that Ambassador Zakhia did not only break traditions and diplomatic norm, but he totally ignored the disassociation policy our government is applying, he was subjective in his actions and this lead to tensions in Lebanon’s international relations. We believe this to be a very serious matter leading to much bigger problems for our country if not handled promptly.