Lebanese president opposes military intervention in Syria

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said Friday that Lebanon objects to any military intervention in Syria. "A military intervention in Syria is not an acceptable move. We would not back a military intervention. But if a political solution requiring Arab support is proposed, then it would become possible for Lebanon to take part in it," Suleiman said in an interview to Akhbar Al Yawm news agency. The president added that Syrian army forces and rebels should refrain from breaching Lebanon's border and Lebanese security forces should prevent Lebanese territory from turning into a launch pad for armed operations in Syria. Meanwhile, Suleiman said the Israeli threats of retaliatory attacks on Lebanon in case of a strike against Israel were unfounded since Lebanon was not planning such an attack. "Israel uses these threats as a show of arrogance. Who said that Lebanon will attack it? If Israel attacks Lebanon then it should bear responsibility for its actions, but Lebanon will not attack it," he said. Suleiman pointed to the possible Israeli pre-emptive attack on Lebanon as a prelude to an attack against Iran, saying that " Israel does not have the right to take such action and the international community should prevent it from doing so." Israel has claimed that Iran's nuclear program constitutes an " existential" threat and has refused to rule out a military strike to prevent it from gaining such a capability. The tension between the two countries has raised fears of a wider conflict in the region that would involve the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, whose leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday that his group was responsible for sending a drone to fly over Israel last week.