Future Movement hands U.N. memo condemning Syria

BEIRUT: The Future Movement parliamentary bloc handed a memo Friday to U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly documenting breaches of national sovereignty by the Syrian army.

The memo will be sent to U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

“Lebanon is an easy target for the Syrian regime in light of the country’s political instability and the great influence that the regime exerts on the ruling majority … Recently, the Syrian regime has violated Lebanon’s sovereignty by deploying snipers, firing missiles, intimidating the border villages, and abducting citizens residing in Lebanese territories,” said the memo.

The latest of these violations, according to the memo, occurred on Wednesday when the Syrian Armed Forces abducted farmers Mohammad Rashid Khaled al-Yasin and Mahdi Mohammad Hamdan from Abboudieh village, in Akkar, north Lebanon.

The fate of Yasin and Hamdan remains unknown.

The memo added that two similar incidents occurred in late April and early May.

The bloc asked Plumbly not to ignore the negative repercussions of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon.

“We, the representatives of the Lebanese people, ask you to undertake all actions necessary to ensure the safe return of all abducted Lebanese citizens, and help Lebanon fulfill its humanitarian commitments to the Syrian refugees residing in our country,” the memo said.

According to the bloc’s press release, Annan telephoned head of the Future Movement bloc Fouad Siniora who is currently in London; the two discussed the situation in Lebanon and the region as well as the “danger of the Syrian breaches to Lebanon’s sovereignty and the extent of their effect on Lebanon.”

Siniora also discussed the memo with Annan.