Minister Hajjar: "The Syrian ambassador did not criticize, but rather explained the words ..., and the clarification is normal."

Aoun chairs meeting addressing return of displaced Syrians

8/08/2022

Lebanon - President of the Republic, General Michel Aoun, chaired a meeting devoted to address the stages of implementing the plan to return displaced Syrians.

The meeting was attended by Foreign Minister, Abdullah Bou Habib and Social Affairs Minister, Hector Hajjar, in addition to advisers, Rafic Shelala and Raymond Tarabay.

Deliberations will continue at a later meeting.

STATEMENT:

After the meeting, Social Affairs Minister, Hector Hajjar, made the following statement:

“We met the President of the Republic, in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the discussion focused mainly on the issue of the displaced Syrians and the developments that occurred during the last three weeks.

It is certain that we agreed with His Excellency the President on many points related to their return plan, and we coordinated positions in the hope that next week we will hold meetings to end the basic stage of agreement on the return plan.

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:

Asked about his position on the Syrian ambassador’s criticism of the Lebanese position expressed by the foreign minister, Minister Hajjar replied: “The Syrian ambassador did not criticize, but rather explained the words made by the foreign minister to a newspaper, and clarification is a natural process. It is certain that today there are integrated positions, sometimes contradictory and sometimes integrated. The Foreign Minister expressed his opinion on a certain point, so the Syrian ambassador tried to clarify the matter. These issues are normal and simple, but they have nothing to do with the Syrian state’s refusal to accept the return of the displaced”.

Question: Will the completion of the picture in the next stage, regarding the issue of return, follow communication with the Syrian state at the highest levels?

Answer: “The communication has not been interrupted, and it is not necessary to announce it whenever it happens. Syria is a brotherly country and is close to Lebanon and has a million and a half displaced people there. We have an embassy and we have daily relations with it, and communication or relations between the two countries have never been interrupted”.

BRITISH AMBASSADOR:

The President Aoun met the new British Ambassador to Lebanon, Mr. Hamish Cowell CMG, and discussed with him the Lebanese-British relations.

Ambassador Cowell affirmed his determination to strengthen and continue these relations in all fields.

For his part, President Aoun praised the support provided by Britain to the Lebanese army, especially building towers along the eastern and northern borders to control the crossings and prevent infiltration.

The meeting also tackled Lebanon’s position on the on-going negotiations to demarcate the southern maritime borders and the on-going negotiations with the International Monetary Fund within the framework of the economic recovery plan set by the government.—Presidency Press Office