Mikati not consulted on protest letter to Syria

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Tuesday he will not immediately comply with President Michel Sleiman’s request to submit a protest letter on Syrian border violations, an appeal that Prime Minister Najib Mikati learned of after it was made, according to sources close to the premier. Sources close to Mikati said Mansour informed the prime minister of Sleiman’s request. Mansour told Al-Manar Tuesday that he will not send the letter until the events in question are investigated. Speaking to the television station, he also said “we deal with Syria as a sister state and this relationship will not be broken now or in the future.” Ministerial sources told The Daily Star that Mansour will wait for the appropriate documentation on which to build the letter – which Sleiman asked be sent to Syrian Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali – so that he can present the issue to Cabinet in its Wednesday session. He will only submit such a letter if Cabinet approves Sleiman’s request. Baabda Palace sources said that Sleiman’s action was based on the idea that the president is responsible for the country’s foreign policy, while other ministerial sources contended that Article 52 of the Constitution stipulates that the president cannot act without consulting Cabinet or the Prime Minister. Citing an example, these sources said that it is customary for the Foreign Minister to send protest letters to Israel after violations of international resolutions or agreements only after the president and prime minister agree on the matter. They added that according to Article 52, the president is responsible for negotiating on international resolutions, but with agreement from the prime minister. They believed that Cabinet’s approval is required for agreement with any foreign party or group. Ali said he had not received anything “from Lebanon related to the protest that President Michel Sleiman directed to the Syrian authorities because of border relations.” He expressed surprise that Sleiman would attempt to send such a letter, and added that on the contrary “Syria is the one who should protest, especially since it ... has always and is still being subjected to bullets and missiles from the Lebanese side, leading to the deaths of Syrians. This is the security responsibility of Lebanon’s Army and security forces. The violations on the Lebanese side are harming Lebanese-Syrian relations.” A March 14 delegation met with Mansour Tuesday, and after the meeting Minyeh MP Ahmad Fatfat said the Foreign Minister “promised us he will submit the letter requested of him by the president to the Syrian ambassador ... Sleiman is dedicated to Lebanese sovereignty and carries out his role in this field.”Criticizing Ali, Fatfat said that the envoy “has crossed many lines ... and acts as if he is in charge of the Lebanese government and its foreign policy.” He alleged that Ali had criticized Sleiman, an act he called “unacceptable.” “We consider sending the letter as the least that can be done,” Fatfat said. “I believe that expelling the ambassador ... might be the thing to do. It has become a popular demand of many Lebanese.” The parliamentary Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri renewed its deep condemnation of Syria’s repeated violations of Lebanese sovereignty. A statement issued after the bloc’s weekly meeting Tuesday chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora praised Sleiman’s decision to ask Mansour to deliver the letter of protest over recurrent Syrian violations of the Lebanese border. Sleiman’s move is “considered as a courageous and essential stance reflecting a duty to protect the state, its soil and citizens,” it said. It deplored the silence of the government and Prime Minister Najib Mikati on “the Syrian regime’s violations.”