Lebanon's Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn said on Thursday that Beirut had no obligation to protect Syrian opposition activists in the country. “US Ambassador Maura Connelly and her country can protect members of the Syrian opposition, but that does not necessarily oblige Lebanon and its army to do anything,” Ghosn told Hezbollah-owned Al-Manar Television Thursday night. In recent months, hundreds upon hundreds of Syrians have fled the ongoing violence in their country and entered Lebanon, but they say Syrian government officials across the world, including in Lebanon, have been attacking opposition activists. Earlier in the week, the United States called on the Lebanese Army to do more to protect Syrian citizens currently residing in the country, Ghosn dismissed the pressure, saying it was a domestic issue and one the US should not be involved in. “The Lebanese army is above any interference that would affect its course, strength and history and the [army] is doing its job on the border within its capabilities to thwart operations of smuggling arms [into Syria] that are used against the Syrian people,” Ghosn, a member of the Marada Movement, added. In Syria, the Bashar al-Assad government continues to attack and kill civilians. The United Nations says that over 2,900 people have been killed since protests began on March 15, while local and international rights groups estimate the number of dead to be over 5,000. BM
