BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati expressed concern over Lebanon’s stability given the unrest in Syria, while reiterating that he sees no benefit to taking a position on the Syria crisis given divisions in his country.

“Any explosion in Syria will be regional,” Mikati told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday. “Lebanon is in a very delicate situation,” the Lebanese prime minister added.

"I wish for the Syrian people what Syrians wish for themselves."

International pressure has intensified on Syria over its crackdown on protests calling for the departure of President Bashar Assad. The U.N. says some 2,700 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the revolt that began in mid-March, posing the most serious threat to Assad’s 11-year rule. Damascus denies it is targeting civilians and blames the deaths on “armed terrorist gangs.”

The Syrian unrest has split Lebanon’s political landscape into two rival camps: the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance which supports the Assad regime, and the opposition March 14 coalition which has shown solidarity with the anti-regime protesters.

The division on the Syria crisis appeared clearest when in August Lebanon disassociated itself after the fact from a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the violence in its neighbor.

In his interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mikati reiterated that he saw no benefit in taking a stance on Syria as this could upset Lebanon’s precarious stability.

“I choose my words very delicately because I have a divided society,” Mikati said.

During the interview, Mikati said although he knew Assad very well, he had not had the opportunity to talk with the Syrian president for a few months.

In a recent interview with pan-Arab Al-Hayat, Mikati denied having any business ties with Syrian officials, and said there was no trade partnership between his family and Assad’s cousin, Rami Makhlouf.

In the interview with the Wall Street Journal, Mikati said Lebanon, technically in a state of war with Israel, could not neglect the possibility of a another possible confrontation with the Jewish state although his country wished to avoid that scenario.

On the controversial topic of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which in June indicted four members of Hezbollah, which has ministers in Mikati’s Cabinet, Mikati said Lebanon would honor its commitments to U.N. Security Council Resolution, including funding and cooperating with the U.N.-backed probe.

Hezbollah denies any involvement in the assassination of Hariri.