“Lebanese Situation Not Secure, Syria will Always Support Resistance”

07/10/2010 Syrian President Bashar Assad warned that the situation in Lebanon is not secure, particularly in light of the recent escalation and attempts by foreign countries to interfere but he said that at the end “we count on the awareness of the Lebanese.”

In an interview with Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) on Wednesday President al-Assad asserted that Syria supports the Resistance movements as long as there are usurped rights and as long as there is a threat.

On arrest warrants issued by Syria against 33 Lebanese, Arab and other officials over false testimony given in the probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Martyr Rafik Hariri, Assad said: “This is an independent, judicial issue that has no political meaning or interpretation.”

"Some in Lebanon very much like to give a meaning to anything," Assad said, adding that the issue of arrest warrants was being exploited to harm Lebanon-Syria relations.

Concerning the Iraqi issue, the Syrian president said “we are on a continuous contact with Iran and Turkey because developments in Iraq will have an impact on us as neighboring countries… sure this issue is the most important, particularly after the delay in forming the government for six month”. “This delay is not in favor of the Iraqis, we are concerned from this delay.”

Assad said Western efforts to renew ‘peace talks’ between Syria and Israel are focusing on finding common ground, but nothing has crystallized yet and the chances of success are unknown. “For us the primary basis is the return of the whole land. For the Israelis they are talking about security arrangements,” he said.

"There is more than one movement in the region, including France and the United States ... a movement between Syria and Israel to search for ideas, but nothing has crystallized yet, and we cannot know what will happen," he added.

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