Syrian FM: Arrest Warrants Purely Procedural, STL Lebanese Affair

06/10/2010 In the first Syrian official comment on the arrest warrants issued by Damascus against 33 Lebanese, Arab and foreign personalities, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said on Wednesday that the mentioned warrants were “purely procedural.”

“It's purely procedural,” the Syrian top diplomat told a news conference during a visit by his Romanian counterpart Teodor Baconschi, in reference to the arrest warrants issued by the Syrian judiciary.

Syria issued on Sunday 33 arrest warrants against Lebanese and others related to the lawsuit filed in Damascus by former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar was reportedly seeking to ease tension with Syria. According to Lebanese daily As-Safir, easing tension includes a response to an invitation to visit Damascus.

On Monday, the Lebanese cabinet agreed to task Minister Najjar to follow up with Syria on the issue of the arrest warrants issued by the Syrian judiciary, while renewing its commitment to strengthening Syrian-Lebanese relations.

But the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt said on Tuesday he doesn’t understand why the March 14 forces “went crazy” over the arrest warrants, stressing that they can be tackled politically and legally. “I don't understand the March 14 forces. Whenever we take one step forward in relations with Syria, their positions take us ten steps backwards,” he said.

Yet, the so-called March 14 forces found in the arrest warrants their “opportunity” to renew their “campaigns” against Syria, rejecting once again what they claim to be a “new page” with the brotherly country.

A statement released following the weekly meeting of the so-called March 14 General Secretariat said that the warrants were a Syrian call to eliminate the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. “They are a blatant defiance of Lebanese demands for justice and stability,” the statement read. “It is as if the Syrian leadership wants to restore ties between the two countries to the phase of extreme tensions, throwing out the window all efforts undertaken by the Lebanese state, and especially the prime minister, to normalize ties in a way that would benefit the Lebanese and Syrian people,” the statement continued.

The arrest warrants which should not be taken innocently as some have called for will push the other team towards increasing its defiance, it added.

Lebanon is, no doubt, in the middle of a serious crisis. Yet, opportunities for solution are still available. But the question remains whether Lebanese would seek to make use of them and resolve their deadlock.

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