Suleiman Warns Lebanese Entity Under Threat, Holds Onto Baabda Declaration
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
President Michel Suleiman reiterated late Tuesday that Lebanese authorities were working on keeping the country at a distance from the region's turmoil, hours after suicide bombers struck the Iranian embassy in Beirut.
“We in Lebanon work through the Baabda Declaration to distance Lebanon from the conflicts, the tension and their negative repercussions,” Suleiman said in his speech at the third Arab-African summit held in Kuwait.
However, Tuesday's suicide bombings appeared to be another strike in the proxy battles that have played out in the region and which have intensified with the civil war in Syria.
Hizbullah members are also fighting alongside troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad despite calls by its rivals in the March 14 alliance to withdraw from the neighboring country.
“We seek with the U.N., the international community and the Gulf Cooperation Countries to resolve the economic losses that Lebanon has suffered, and which the World Bank has estimated at 7.5 billion dollars,” Suleiman said.
He also said that work is underway to find quick solutions to the crisis of Syrian refugees whose numbers are soaring at a very fast rate.
He warned that the crisis was “endangering the Lebanese entity” in addition to “the country's economy and the social and security conditions in it.”
“There would be no investment without stability and no stability or moderation without justice,” he said, urging the international community to achieve such a justice.
He reiterated that Lebanon would continue to ask for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on international resolutions, the Madrid process and the Arab peace initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002.
Suleiman met on the sidelines of the summit with Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, Egypt's Interim president Adly Mansour and U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson who stressed that Ban Ki-Moon was keen on helping Lebanon's economy.
Eliasson told Suleiman that Ban has expressed satisfaction with the efforts exerted by Lebanese authorities to preserve unity and security.
Also on the sidelines of the summit, the Lebanese president met with Alan Duncan, UK's Minister of State for International Development, who reiterated his country's support for Lebanon.
He said London intends to provide assistance to help Lebanon confront the burden of Syrian refugees.
Suleiman cut his visit to Kuwait short and returned to Beirut along with first Lady Wafaa on Tuesday night.
He was expected to read the summit's closing statement but he decided to return to Lebanon after the bombings that struck the Iranian embassy in the Bir Hassan neighborhood of Beirut's southern suburbs.
20 November 2013, 08:32
99
Mr President, stop beating a dead horse… Hizbullah only reads Farsi & Nasrallah made it clear, they will follow the Ayatollahs orders now and in the future.
Never forget their Glorious equation: Hizbullah+Assad+Ayatollah=Axis of so called Resistance.
20 November 2013, 17:57
25
Could we get a group photo, gentlemen, please, of all the Lebanese warlords and their sons, if any, standing in the doorway of City Hall, all holding axe handles, and a big banner that reads, "Confessionalism yesterday, confessionalism today, and confessionalism forever!"? And can we put some determination in those smiles, gentlemen, please?
20 November 2013, 08:33
95
the damage has been done by iran and hizbushaitan resulting in extreme hatred towards the minority shias in the region. each and every shia is now a target and will remain so.
nothing will be able to undo the harm caused by iran and hizbushaitan to this community.
by the way: to those trying to spread the idea that shia are a majority in Lebanon, kindly note that according to the latest (last month) voters numbers, sunnis are the biggest community in the country.
20 November 2013, 09:42
97
The harm to the Shia comes from the KSA Fatwa on all non-Wahhabi. The KSA is funding and organizing destabilization and terrorism throughout MENA and beyond to the Caucasus and Pakistan.
20 November 2013, 10:04
87
iran and its terrorist military wing hizbushaitan are not arab and have to be faught as they are the main destabilizing entities in the region.
what has iran to do in the arab world initially?
20 November 2013, 10:18
76
@ geha
Lebanese Shia are Arabs ... as are the Shia in Iraq, southern Iran, Bahrain and the other GCC countries ...
Try to get your facts straight dear geha ...
20 November 2013, 11:16
57
@ Patriotic-Lebanese
The evidence is overwhelming ... The KSA Fatwa is repeated over and over again by the Qaeda and Islamist terrorists the Saudis sponsor.
20 November 2013, 11:45
85
shia in arab countries are arabs.
but iran his not an arab country and has nothing to do with arab countries.
20 November 2013, 11:48
67
@ geha
Dear geha,
If you knew anything about the dispersion of Arabs in the middle east you would know that the majority of Shia in the southern provinces of Iran along the Persian Gulf are Arabs ... not Persian.
20 November 2013, 12:32
75
+1 4 Geha, persians (shia, or not) are different people, they look different, they speak different, they eat different, they kill different..
it's like comparing filipinos to lebanese simply because they r christians. at least the Filipinas aren't aiming at getting a piece of lebanese soil.
20 November 2013, 14:28
63
This is BS u can not prove, unless u take evidence from iranian state sources. Shias hold top position in ARAMCO and other big saudi companies. Same in army or security services. The head of Madinah police was shia. responsible during hajj of security of millions of sunnis. I am working in an Institute of Technology in Europe, a big part of our GCC students are shias, KSA and Kuwait governments pay €10-15k/year for tuitions plus €1600/months for living. Shias have rights in KSA, sunnis have none in Iran, they're persecuted, killed, cant open mosques and some of them are hanged for no reasons... But people have to understand that KSA or Vatican are not normal secular countries open to all religions or thinking...
20 November 2013, 09:22
86
Split the country ! Let the thugs create a wilayet el fakih of their own and bugger off! We'll see who will win in the long run…What you have been labelling as national unity Mr President is in facts national disunity, and cold war ! It is turning now into open war !
20 November 2013, 12:36
66
Phoenix: because of some Sheikh or Ayatollah who it's clear just do NOT give priority to Lebanon, why?
PS: you forget Christian traitors such as aoun and his clique or Franjieh. 4 them it's Bachar 1st, Lebanon 2nd.
20 November 2013, 11:47
35
Take your Baabda declaration (even those who support it have no clue about what it says or what it does, bass baddon yo2orto 7akeh hal bala mokh)and shove it up your wazoo. Pathetic declaration. Pathetic president. Pathetic country. Pathetic people.
20 November 2013, 12:40
36
No to Partition under any circumstances !
Only a " Military Coup " !!!!!!
We are now wimps nor accept any orders from outside influence such as from the KSA ..Wahibist / jihadists / or Al Qaida influence supported by the GCC states !
Signed Wolf !
20 November 2013, 14:37
56
Partition please.
To all those who chant for war. My dream of Lebanon is not like yours. Go do what you please in your Lebanon and leave mine alone.
20 November 2013, 14:44
36
You are definitely delusional ,
Lebanon is not going to be partitioned except for your so called state Israel !
Signed Wolf !
20 November 2013, 14:48
45
We tried this so called coexistence. All it got us is war, death and destruction. Either that or Lebanon as a state will collapse and disintegrate. It is inevitable. We are simply a failed state with many beliefs you cannot possibly unite. The evidence for that is all around us. If you can't see it then you are delusional.
20 November 2013, 15:05
44
If you can't see the rest of the ME countries & their life style especially the so called State of Israel then you are not only delusional but either have just woken up from self induced high grade drug intake or too young & uneducated too realise what has been happening in :
Tunisia
Libya
Sudan
Egypt
Yemen
Bahrain
Iraq
Syria
Gaza
West Bank
Israel
Turkey
Kuwait
KSA
GCC states......
Lebanon under these extreme circumstances still enjoys the life that the above countries envy us to the point of destruction , but that shall never happen ! But now & then we shall have a tooth ache but all is well to their evil eye ! No partition , but YES to Military Coup !
Now go back to your induced drug taking !
Signed Wolf
20 November 2013, 15:30
45
I am not using words to judge or insult you so there is no need for name calling wolf. People who make assumptions like you wolf are much more likely to be uneducated or drug induced. Trust me I am not young and I guarantee way more educated than you.
I personally do not care at all how these countries are run and what their lifestyle is like. All I know is that the country is already divided. Do you not agree? Do you really think a military coup would actually unite the country? Cause the overwhelming evidence is that military coups have promoted unity? On the contrary they promoted oppression and a decline in liberties and human rights. They might have brought temporary political stability but that is all.
If you disagree with me at least be civil enough not to attack and throw insults my way.
20 November 2013, 17:48
33
@the1phoenix, you are always playing the peace maker...I salute you and admire your patience and wisdom but brother I hope you realize at some point you are appeasing dangerous minds who have no consideration for you in their heart and certainly their agenda. I do not love Wolf's comments at all nor that of his com-padres, I simply acknowledge his and their right to make their opinions known though I find their methods undesirable and in very poor taste.
As to partition...I am starting to cave in...soon me too will be singing partition please. I want to retire in Lebanon...I don't see how anymore without partition.
20 November 2013, 17:10
00
Phoenix,
Please clarify your views? do you want the Hezb in or out of Syria,
do you support Bashar or no? do you believe we unity as you always call us brothers and love etc or do you beleive in partiton? do you support SHN or are you against him? for all these questions i ask you have made one argument for or against each answer and i honestly dont know why? anyway I would as a reader of this forum appreciate to hear your views? Good Day sir
20 November 2013, 17:50
34
Guys , compatriots , brothers or sisters' ,innocent people are getting killed , maimed or disfigured in our streets even the very young are caught in these terrible acts of murder & all you can come with is that you have been hurt by name calling ? Is that all you can come with ? Does that hurt you that drastically ? Does that kill you at all ? How sad to say to you , have you read other posts ? Well no apology from me , I call it a heated debate , where are your thick skin macho gone to ?
Signed Wolf !
20 November 2013, 18:10
25
These two Lebanese miniature warlords walk into a bar and one says to the bartender, "Give my friend here a drink and it's on me." The other warlord says to the bartender, "No, give my friend here a drink and it's on me."
The bartender says, "You both get the heck out of my bar."
20 November 2013, 19:28
53
see how hezbollah are patriotic.... they do not listen to the president of their "country" but pledged allegiance to iran....
and M8ers call them patriotic? LOL
