BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top officials and lawmakers meeting Thursday at Parliament disputed Lebanon’s decision to disassociate itself from a U.N. Security Council statement condemning violence in Syria.

Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najbi Mikati sought to justify Lebanon’s position in the Security Council as a decision to refrain from intervening in Damascus’ internal affairs, which would benefit the country’s bilateral relations with Syria.

Meanwhile, Chouf MP Marwan Hamade questioned Lebanon’s decision to disassociate itself from the formal statement condemning Syrian President Bashar Assad’s deadly crackdown on protests, which the other 14 members of the U.N. Security Council agreed on.

“Isn’t it a shame that Lebanon [disassociates] itself from the statement of the Security Council?” asked Hamade during Thursday’s legislative session in Parliament.

But Berri said that Lebanon’s stance was being “unjustly” judged.

“Lebanon’s position was not against the international community. Let’s continue to adhere to the policy that saves our country,” Berri noted.

Between 1,600 and 1,900 Syrian civilians and around 500 members of the military are believed to have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown on the popular uprising, which is in its fifth month.

On his way out of Parliament following the session, Mikati told reporters that Lebanon’s position was based on the government’s policy to refrain from interfering in Syria’s internal affairs as well as the Cabinet’s conviction that the Security Council’s statement would fail to solve the crisis in Syria.

“Lebanon’s position took into consideration the particularities of the country,” Mikati added.

Separately, Lebanon’s stance sparked disapproving reactions by a number of lawmakers from the March 14 coalition who blasted it as shameful decision as it fails to support the Syrian people’s human rights.

However, MPs of the March 8 alliance defended Lebanon’s position, saying it was based on the Cabinet’s policy not to intervene in Syria’s internal affairs.

However, members of the country’s opposition described the government’s stance as shameful, saying that the country had failed to voice support for human rights.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Lebanon’s decision at the U.N, saying, “We as Lebanese are not proud of Lebanon’s decision at the Security Council.”

“How is it in Lebanon’s interest when it disassociates itself from voters?” the LF leader asked.

Speaking to a local radio station, Geagea said that he did not believe a vote at the U.N. would have fallen “within the framework of interfering in Syria’s affairs.”

Chouf MP Mohammad Hajjar, a member of the Future parliamentary bloc, said that “the opposition had hoped that Lebanon would come out with a position that expresses the desires and aspirations of the majority of both the Lebanese and Syrian peoples, as well as Syrian people’s right to reject violence, oppression and injustice in order to live in dignity, freedom and democracy.”

“The March 14 alliance will issue an official stance on the Lebanese government’s position toward Syria’s bloody tyranny,” Hajjar told a local radio station.

Hajjar said the March 14 coalition, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, would issue a response to the stance by Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet on the events in Syria.

Hariri, who has made only a few public appearances since his government collapsed in January, condemned last week what he described as a “massacre” in the Syrian city of Hama and urged Arabs to break their silence on events in Syria.

Opposition and human rights groups estimate that between 1,600 and 1,900 civilians have been killed since March when protests began in a deadly crackdown launched by President Bashar Assad. Damascus blames “terrorist gangs” for the deaths and says the unrest in the country is part of a foreign conspiracy.

Beirut MP Nabil de Freij, also a member of Hariri’s Future parliamentary bloc, said Lebanon’s position was not unexpected.

“Lebanon’s stance was expected since the Lebanese government is one-sided and close to Syria,” de Freij said.

However, de Freij expressed his belief that the Cabinet’s stance “will not ignite problems with the opposition [March 14]” and ruled out it having any negative impact on Lebanon’s relations with the international community.

While Lebanon didn’t vote against the statement, Lebanon’s deputy U.N. Ambassador Caroline Ziade carried out an infrequently used procedure, disassociating the country from the statement after it was approved and read aloud at the council’s meeting.

Lawmakers in the Hezbollah-led March 8 camp expressed different views, stressing the need to stay out of Syria’s internal affairs.

Zahrani MP Michel Musa, a member of Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc, said “Lebanon has no interest in antagonizing Syria and, therefore, there is no interest in taking a position in the Security Council to condemn Syria, given the brotherly ties as well as political, security and economic agreements.”

Musa stressed “the need for Lebanon to distance itself from any internal conflict in Syria.”