The March 14 General Secretariat accused its March 8 rivals of engaging in “terror” to cancel the meeting that was scheduled to take place at the Hotel Bristol Tuesday afternoon in Beirut, but was called off by the hotel.
“The General Secretariat declares its condemnation of the terror and intimidation by the March 8 team, and its rejection of holding Beirut, the capital of culture, freedom and the individual, captive to this pressure,” said a statement issued by the group.The event was called off when hotel management said it could no longer host the event “for reasons outside its willingness, and [in order] to keep the staff of the institution neutral.”
Beirut MP Ammar Houri said after the meeting that while March 14 wasn’t officially involved with the Bristol meeting, “we in principle support freedom of opinion and expression.”
Houri said that “some groups have expressed a certain position on [unrest in] Bahrain,” referring to Hezbollah, as he complained that politicians’ stances on popular protests in a range of Arab countries were being subjected to double standards.
He added that March 14 was officially committed to a policy of non-interference in other countries’ affairs.
But his colleague in the March 14 coalition, Akkar MP Khaled Daher, urged the international community to intervene to end the “massacres” committed against the Syrian people.
Daher held a news conference in Tripoli and said he was speaking on his own behalf, and not for March 14.
The MP said the Syrian people would not surrender before President Bashar Assad’s “puppets are brought down.”
Daher added that March 8 parties showed their fear of freedom of speech when they pushed for the cancellation Tuesday of the Bristol meeting.
“March 8 groups, which fear words and freedom, stand against the Lebanese and Syrian people … and they prevented a gathering in solidarity with the Syrian people through terrorist practices and by pressuring the management of the Bristol hotel,” Daher said.
The gathering in support of Syrian protesters is still expected to be held in the days to come, said one activist.
Dismissing the arguments of March 8 politicians, who reject Lebanese intervention in Syria’s internal affairs, Daher said “free people were in no position to stand neutral” as the Syrian regime “continues to commit massacres.”
Separately, Beirut MP Nadim Gemayel condemned the cancelation of the Bristol meeting under pressure.
Gemayel added that supporters of Syrian demonstrators were similar to supporters of the Syrian regime, and were entitled to express their positions in line with the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech.
Several demonstrations of support for Damascus have taken place in Lebanon in the weeks since the unrest in Syria erupted.
For his part, Syria’s ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, said the security situation in both Lebanon and Syria was linked, following talks with caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Shami.
Ali said “planned and responsible” work by the Lebanese government was needed to strengthen the relation between the countries, which requires the formation of a government.
Hundreds of Syrians have fled into north Lebanon from the town of Talkalakh over the past days, amid reports of a crackdown by Syrian authorities.
But Ali denied any irregular activity on the Lebanese-Syrian border, saying travel between the countries was normal. “There is no increase or decrease in the number of refugees.
The movement between both countries is a movement between families. Some misleading reports are being made, but you can uncover the truth.”
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