12 July 2013

Condemning Beirut car bomb, UNSC calls on all Lebanese groups to stay out of Syria

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the UN Security Council strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Beirut and appealed to all Lebanese parties to refrain from any involvement in the Syrian crisis. According to Reuters, the statements was intended to target Hezbollah specifically, but a direct reference was omitted due to Russian objections.

The acting US Ambassador to the UN, Rosemary DiCarlo said Council members expressed concern at the marked increase in cross-border hostilities along the Lebanon-Syria border and called for international support to the Lebanese government in dealing with the crisis. The calls come amid increasing reports on the spread of the Syrian conflict into the wider region, with the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah supporting President Al-Assad’s forces in Syria and Syrian rebel groups reportedly taking responsibility for terrorist attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Source: UN News | Security Council Press Statement On Lebanon
Source: Reuters | U.N. calls on Lebanon's Hezbollah to stop involvement in Syria
Source: Global Post | UN Council condemns Beirut car bomb
Source: Global Post | Syria rebel group claims Beirut suburb blast
Source: El País | Siria reaviva el conflicto chií-suní en toda la región