BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam avoided taking a stance during the Arab summit either supporting or rejecting the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, in a move apparently designed to avert a split within Cabinet, but said Lebanon backed any decision that preserves Sanaa’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Addressing the annual Arab League summit held in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh Saturday night, Salam announced Lebanon’s support for the creation of “a joint Arab force to fight terrorism and safeguard pan-Arab security.”
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the summit host, said at the end of the two-day conference Sunday that Arab leaders have agreed in principle to creating a joint Arab military force.
Salam, accompanied by the interior, foreign affairs and labor ministers, returned to Beirut Sunday after representing Lebanon at the Arab summit in Egypt.
He met on the sidelines of the summit with Sisi, alongside Egyptian Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby.
Salam also met with Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah; Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas; Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal; and United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan on the sidelines of the summit.
“Out of its keenness to support constitutional legitimacy in Yemen, Arab unanimity and the unity and stability of all Arab states, Lebanon announces its support for any Arab stance that preserves Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the cohesion of its social fabric,” Salam said in his speech at the close of Saturday’s session.
He voiced Lebanon’s support for political solutions to regional conflicts, including the crisis in Yemen, without any foreign interference in the internal affairs of Arab states.
“We affirm our belief in the importance of adopting political solutions to the internal crises without any foreign interference in the Arab states’ affairs,” Salam said, in an indirect swipe at Iran’s growing role in the region.
“We hope that security will return quickly to Yemen in order to protect the lives of our Yemeni brothers and safeguard their country’s resources as a prelude to the resumption of dialogue in the framework of a political process that will contain differences, repair relations among the various parties and draw up a road map for the future,” he added.
In line with Lebanon’s disassociation policy toward regional conflicts, the premier said: “We affirm our permanent keenness on the supreme Arab interest and our solidarity with our Arab brothers in all their rightful issues. We call [on Arab leaders] to distance Lebanon from all regional struggles which might have negative repercussions on the situation in Lebanon.”
Referring to the Saudi-led airstrikes launched since Thursday against Houthi rebels in Yemen, Salam said the summit coincided with “extremely important events in Yemen, where political struggles, driven by foreign intervention, have led to a state of political and security chaos that is threatening not only Yemen’s unity, but also posing a real danger to security in this strategic Arab region.”
“This situation prompted the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in response to Yemeni President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi’s appeal, to spearhead an Arab and Muslim military coalition to prevent this danger from aggravating, and reassert legitimacy and bring the situation in Yemen back to normal,” he added.
While Salam did not explicitly voice his support or rejection of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen, he said Lebanon backed the formation of a joint Arab force to combat terrorism.
Referring to the rise of extremist Islamist groups that are threatening the region’s security, Salam said: “The state of instability that is sweeping across our Arab region has led to the emergence of the phenomenon of terrorism which is sowing violence in our countries under the name of Islam ... This black terrorism has infiltrated our region from the holes of ignorance and from repressive policies that generate malice.”
Calling on Arab leaders to establish “a defensive, security, political and intellectual barrier in the face of this abnormal phenomenon,” Salam said: “We support any step taken by the summit in this respect. We affirm our support for the creation of a joint Arab force to fight terrorism and safeguard pan-Arab security.”
Salam lamented the absence of a president to head Lebanon’s delegation to the summit, saying the 10-month-old presidential vacuum has disrupted the work of constitutional institutions.
Blaming the rival factions’ political differences for the presidential deadlock, the prime minister said: “The persistent delay in the election of a president has led to the obstruction of the work of our political institutions, leaving a negative impact on our economy.”
Referring to the ongoing dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah and also between the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement, Salam said: “We are looking forward to the success of the ongoing dialogue among the political parties, which has created a positive atmosphere in the country, to create a favorable climate to hold the presidential election, which is an extremely important event.”
In his speech, Salam also highlighted the heavy socio-economic burdens on Lebanon posed by the presence of “more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees” on its territory. He said the Lebanese government would present a plan to a donor conference scheduled in Kuwait Tuesday detailing Lebanon’s needs to cope with the Syrian refugee crisis.
Lebanon hosts 1.1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UNHCR, though government estimates put that number higher, putting a severe strain on Lebanon’s feeble infrastructure and its social services.
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