BEIRUT: Hezbollah defended Thursday Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour over allegations he had deviated from Lebanon’s policy on the crisis in Syria during a recent Arab League meeting in Egypt.
“[Mansour’s speech] at the recent meeting of Arab foreign ministers reflects ... the official Lebanese stance that it agreed on in terms of dissociating itself from the Syria crisis,” Hezbollah MP Mohammad Raad said, according to a statement from the resistance group.
Raad, who heads the Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc, added that Mansour’s speech had “urged all sides to rely on a political solution that preserves Syria’s unity, safeguards its stability and meets the demands of its people without interference into its affairs from the outside.”
Mansour came under fire at home Wednesday after he urged the Arab League during a meeting in Cairo to rescind its 2011 decision to suspend Syria as a member of the regional organization. Most of the criticism came from Lebanon’s opposition, which accused Mansour of working on behalf of Damascus.
Lebanon has a self-avowed policy of dissociating itself from regional developments. Rival Lebanese political leaders also agreed at a National Dialogue session in 2011 to abide by the “Baabda Declaration,” which calls for Lebanon to distance itself from regional and international conflicts.
The Hezbollah lawmaker said Mansour’s comments in Egypt were positive ones that reflected “keenness toward all countries in the Arab region and toward their peoples who are surely affected by the continuing, destructive hemorrhaging that weakens Syria and Arab countries equally.”
He said the attack on Mansour was part of an opposition campaign against the Lebanese government.
“What is shameful is the incitement that is being practiced by some Lebanese partisans who agreed to be used as pistols in the project of sabotaging any chance of reform and stability, whether in Lebanon or the region,” he said.
“We praise the bold stance of ... Mansour and reiterate our adherence to the righteous, patriotic stance that the Lebanese government is committed to toward the Syrian crisis which expresses keenness toward the higher interests of Lebanon, Syria and neighboring countries in the region,” he added.