Lebanon, Austria discuss repercussions of crisis in Syria on region

Lebanese Minister of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs, Adnan Mansour discussed with his Austrian counterpart, Michael Spindelegger bilateral relations and the situation in the region, especially in Syria and its repercussions on the Arab region. The two sides also tackled the issue of the Syrians displaced in Lebanon and the neighboring countries. "Austrian Foreign Minister expressed his country's willingness to provide more support to Lebanon and appreciation over Lebanon's insistent aid to the displaced Syrians, " Mansour said. He added that Lebanon relays on the assistance offered by the international community and other countries to ensure the basic and necessary requirements of the Syrians displaced. For his part, Spindelegger expressed his country's rejection of arming the opposition in Syria , calling for finding the appropriate frameworks to hold dialogue among all Syrian parties to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria. "We agreed on exerting further efforts to reach a political solution to the crisis in Syria.. I believe sending more weapons is not a solution," the Austrian Minister said , indicating that Austria has no intention to reduce the number of its participation in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Austrian official stressed that "We are concerned about the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan". He warned against France and Britain's calls to arm the 'Syrian opposition' as it constitutes big risks on the future of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in the occupied Golan, particularly the Austrian force.