Syria urges Lebanon to 'guarantee border security'

Syria urges Lebanon to 'guarantee border security'
Fri Jun 14, 2013 12:06:51

Syria urges Lebanon to guarantee security and stability on the border between the two countries, expressing ‘keenness’ on the security of Lebanon.

According to a report by Lebanon’s National News Agency, Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour received a letter from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem regarding the situation on the border region.

Mansour said that the Syrian foreign minister had stressed the “importance that the Lebanese army controls the borders in a way that guarantees security and stability.”

The letters mentioned the security deals between Damascus and Beirut, highlighting Syria’s “keenness on Lebanon’s security,” the Lebanese minister stated.

Muallem also called on Lebanese officials to “exert every possible effort to take the necessary measures that promote the common pursuit of both countries and peoples, within the framework of mutual concern for respecting the sovereignty and integrity of each country.”

On June 12, extremist militants in Syria fired a number of rockets at the Lebanese border towns and villages in Bekaa Valley.

There has been an upsurge in such assaults since the Syrian army managed to inflict major losses on foreign-sponsored armed groups in Syria, accomplishing a series of successful operations in its fight against terrorists with the help of Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah.

On May 25, Hezbollah Secretary-General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah defended the resistance movement’s decision to fight militants in the Syrian border town of Qusayr, saying the extremist groups in neighboring Syria are also a threat to all Lebanese communities.

On June 5, the Syrian state TV said Qusayr, which lies near the border with Lebanon, was under full control of the Syrian army following three weeks of fighting with militants.

The turmoil in Syria erupted in March 2011. Since then, many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed.

In May, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that militants from 29 different countries were fighting against the government in different parts of the country.

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