Berri: Lebanon directly involved in Gaza conflict, al-Quds is part of our responsibility

 
Source: Nowlebanon.com, 12-1-2009

Speaker Nabih Berri has stated that Lebanon is directly involved in the Gaza conflict on national and religious levels.
"al-Quds (Jerusalem) is part of our responsibility, and whether we are Muslims or Christians, we are concerned in Jerusalem."

During a meeting with employees of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Monday, Berri said "Israeli" ambitions were not confined to Palestine but also stretched to Lebanon. "Israel" had benefited from a rare opportunity to attack the Gaza Strip and from Palestinian and Arab divides, he added.

"You have a fundamental task, for what is happening in the region is not too far from us," Berri told the ministry employees. "We must act ... unless al-Quds does not concern us and resettlement does not matter, and be sure that when the guns of the Resistance fall, resettlement then becomes a reality."

Berri also questioned how outgoing US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could "refuse to meet with some Arab ministers and the Arab League Secretary General, as it was said, while others met with her."

The speaker said the US abstention from voting on UN Security Council Resolution 1860 revealed that the resolution would never be implemented. "Rice herself said a few weeks ago that she regretted the hour she did not agree to a ceasefire in the July War," he added. "Perhaps she is benefitting from the fact that she no longer has time for remorse."

Berri also reiterated the need for solidarity in Lebanon, which was on the road to recovery, despite turtle-like pace at which the government is working."