BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt said Monday he was surprised by Lebanon’s reservations over the Arab League decision to open communication channels with the Syrian opposition and to request that the U.N. send a joint peacekeeping force to Syria.

However, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour held his ground, saying the Arab body’s decisions have put Lebanon in danger.

“Once again, we express our surprise at and condemnation of the Lebanese official position to express reservations over the Arab League statement, which aims at combating injustice and stopping the genocide that is being carried out against the Syrian people,” Jumblatt said in his weekly editorial in PSP’s Al-Anbaa newspaper.

“What’s the reason behind avoiding the political, humanitarian and moral responsibility to support the Syrian people?” he asked.

Arab foreign ministers agreed Sunday to open channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and provide it with political and financial support. They also asked the U.N. to send a joint peacekeeping force to Syria. Lebanon and Algeria expressed reservations over the resolution.

Upon his return from Cairo where he took part in the Arab League session, Mansour told reporters at Beirut airport Monday that “we expressed our reservations over these decisions given their dangerous repercussions.”

“The [components of the decision] include ending all diplomatic relations with Syria, tightening economic and commercial sanctions on Syria and ... to support the Syrian opposition politically and financially,” Mansour said.

“This financial support ... could be military or non-military support,” he said. “We know there are several [Syrian] opposition members in Lebanon. How could communication with them take place? How could they be provided with support? This pushes Lebanon into complicated and dangerous things,” the minister said.

Defending his position, Mansour said: “This is not an individual stance, but a position which first and foremost reflects the interests of Lebanon.”

“I have said repeatedly that we are not far from what is happening in Syria ... our security and stability are connected and we are concerned with the security and stability of Syria,” he said.

Mansour recalled that he had expressed concerns for the first time last August that some groups were seeking U.N. action in Syria and aiming to topple the Syrian regime. He warned that any destabilization in Syria would affect the entire region.

Separately, Jumblatt warned against viewing the Syrian uprising a as a sectarian conflict. “The Syrian regime has oppressed the Alawites just like others and sent hundreds of them to prison same as [it] did with members of other sects,” he said.

“The issue has nothing to do with sectarian affiliation, but with legitimate demands for freedom and democracy and this is the core of the struggle,” he added.