Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Remarkably Active

President Michel Aoun meet with Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Supreme Council, Nasri Khoury in October 2018 (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meet with Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Supreme Council, Nasri Khoury in October 2018 (NNA)
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Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Remarkably Active

President Michel Aoun meet with Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Supreme Council, Nasri Khoury in October 2018 (NNA)
President Michel Aoun meet with Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Supreme Council, Nasri Khoury in October 2018 (NNA)

Damascus seeks to boost its presence in Lebanon by reviving the Syrian-Lebanese Higher Council.

The Council’s Secretary-General, Nasri Khoury, resumed his activities in the Lebanese internal sector, years after freezing this role due to the crisis in Syria.

“The work of the Higher Council and its secretariat has not stopped in the past few years, even if such role was not highlighted in the media,” Khoury told Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday.

He said he was always following up on the implementation of signed agreements between the two countries, within the limits permitted during the conflict in Syria.

After the formation of a government in Lebanon this year, Khoury asked to meet with a number of ministers to activate work on a number of agreements signed between Lebanon and Syria, he said.

Khoury has already met with some ministers and is waiting to get appointments from others.

“The Higher Council secretariat contributed in 2013 and 2014 to placing a joint plan for the return of Syrian refugees to their homes. However, things got complicated after the Lebanese side withdrew from accepting a formula reached with the Syrian side,” Khoury explained.

Notably, the Council was created following a treaty signed on May 22, 1991, and constituted a major leap in the two states' relationships, after Beirut was under Syrian tutelage.

The Council was formed by the presidents of Lebanon and Syria, in addition to the Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minister of Syria and the Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Vice Prime Minister of Lebanon.

However, after the two countries resumed official diplomatic relations in 2008 by opening respective embassies in Damascus and Beirut, several observers questioned the utility of keeping the Higher Council alive.

Currently, Damascus’ opponents in Beirut look suspiciously at Khoury’s dynamic to revive the council's role.

They believe that Syria was using the functions of the Council to recuperate its direct political role in Lebanon after it had dramatically declined in the past eight years.



UN Security Council Warns against Attempts to Dismantle UNRWA

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
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UN Security Council Warns against Attempts to Dismantle UNRWA

Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)
Palestinian employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) take part in a protest against job cuts (Reuters)

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday "strongly warned against any attempts to dismantle or diminish" the operations and mandate of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA after Israel passed a law banning its operations.

In a statement adopted by consensus, the 15-member body expressed grave concern over the legislation adopted by the Israeli parliament on Monday, Reuters reported.

The council "urged the Israeli Government to abide by its international obligations, respect the privileges and immunities of UNRWA and live up to its responsibility to allow and facilitate full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance in all its forms into and throughout the entire Gaza Strip."