Future bloc MP Mustafa Allouch said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s speech at the conference on Syrian-Lebanese relations held in Damascus on Tuesday was meant to mislead the Lebanese people and pave the way for the return to power of Syrian allies in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Allouch said in an interview with the Saturday edition of al-Mustaqbal that in order for Syrian-Lebanese relations to be reconciled, Syria needs to: admit their crimes in Lebanon, demarcate their borders, and end their political and military interference in internal Lebanese affairs.

He explained that Syria uses the issue of the Shebaa farms as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with Israel over the Golan Heights. Allouch added that Assad has no desire to demarcate Syrian-Lebanese borders.

 “If there are no Lebanese detainees in Syrian prisons, as President Assad said, then this means they have been executed by the Syrian regime,” he claimed.

Allouch concluded that “Assad said closing the Higher Syrian-Lebanese Council requires a majority of votes in the parliament. We say to him that Syria should accept the Lebanese decision, regardless of the number of votes in parliament.”

-NOW Staff