Lebanon Condemns US Raid in Syria

Source: Al-Manar TV, 27-10-2008

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman condemned on Monday the US raid in Syria that killed eight civilians as a flagrant breach to the sovereignty of a sisterly Arab state.

Suleiman called his Syrian counterpart Bachar al-Assad and informed him of Lebanon's solidarity with Syria in defending its right in sovereignty over all its territories. He called for settling differences and conflicts between states in line with the UN Charter and international laws.

For his part, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora accused the US military on Monday of an "unacceptable" violation of Syrian sovereignty over the raid.

"The raid by US helicopters on Syrian territory... constitutes a violation of Syrian sovereignty and thus is a dangerous, unacceptable attack that we condemn," said a statement from his office. "Any military attack against an Arab country or on a small country by a larger country is an act we reject," it added.

Speaker Nabih Berri sent a letter to Syrian President Bachar Assad in which he condemned the US aggression and the barbaric massacre in the Syrian town of Abu Kamal. Berri stressed on the full solidarity with Syria saying that this aggression in this political timing assures that the US strategic plan to control the resources of the region and Iraq has failed.

Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh condemned the helicopter strike over Syria and rejected the violation of international law.

Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss also condemned the US aggression against Syria saying that the killed innocent people would remain as a witness on the heinous US crime against the humanity.