Lebanese Prime Minister, Saad al-Hariri, and head of the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc, Walid Jumblatt, expressed their rejection of attempts to normalize relations with the Assad regime during a meeting on Sunday.
Al-Hayat newspaper cited Hariri and Jumblat as saying that they “reject paving the political way for the Assad regime or the rehabilitation of the regime through the Lebanese gate under the pretext that there is a need to communicate with the Assad regime to discuss the return of Syrian refugees to their towns and villages.”
Hariri and Jumblatt believe that the incitement of violence and hatred against Syrian refugees will not resolve the issue of the return of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. They stressed that resolving this issue can only be reached through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) which is responsible for the arrangement of the return of the Syrian refugees to their country.
The two sides warned that organizing political and media campaigns to incite hatred against Syrian refugees would only risk increasing political tensions in Lebanon. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)