Berri: Lebanese Citizens in Syria Have Legitimate Right to Defend Themselves
Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri urged on Thursday all Lebanese sides to dissociate themselves from the Syrian crisis.In an interview with "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper, Berri viewed that "Such policy is in the interest of Lebanon and its national consensus."
"It is also in the interest of Syria, which does not need more interference in its affairs and agitating the fire of its crisis," he added.In parallel, Berri confirmed "It is not permissible that some people neglect the self - dissociation policy and then ask others to be committed to it." "All sides must abide by this policy through statements and performances," he said, and warned the Lebanese from interfering in this crisis and thus get dragged into worthless venturing.The Speaker further cautioned that "such adventures would only expose the already fragile Lebanese situation to more cracks."On another level, Berri considered that "Lebanese citizens living in Syrian towns and villages have the right to defend themselves if threatened by military attacks.""This does not violate the principle of self-dissociation policy," he emphasized, and noted that "self-defense is an unequivocal, legitimate right that does not need a political decision."Moreover, the Speaker clarified to "as-Safir" that "the Lebanese citizens residing in Syrian border towns awaits neither Hizbullah nor Amal signal to protect their belongings and lives.""Those Lebanese citizens have been residing in the Syrian border towns for decades ago, and they , from the beginning, paid the price of Sykes-Picot divisions that set them on the other side of the border by a scissor's stroke," Berri iterated.
He also highlighted that "the dissociation policy does not mean that chaos should reign, but it does entail the responsibility and duties on behalf of the Lebanese state to prevent the use of its territories as a channel or a base for involvement in the military confrontation taking place in Syria."As the Speaker stressed "the necessity of embracing the displaced Syrians, as Syria did with the Lebanese in 2006 "Israeli" aggression," Berri warned that such steps must be accompanied with inspecting the lists of refuges." "If an injured armed refugee enters Lebanon for treatment, he should be disarmed first and then treated," Berri stressed.In addition, Berri also unveiled that he was informed that Syrian refugees supporting the opposition were ordered to take refuge in Lebanese regions connected with "March 14", while refugees supporting the regime were directed to "March 8" regions.The speaker also warned that the displaced Syrian nationals in Lebanon should not implicate themselves in the political schisms affecting Lebanon's domestic situation, adding that "some Lebanese should also refrain from offering to provide military support in return."