The Guardians of the Cedars Party issued the following weekly communiqué:

More dangerous than the issue of weapons influx from Syria into Lebanon, as the latest United Nations report states, is the virtual seal of silence of Lebanese government circles on this matter and their failure to handle it with the seriousness that is warranted by the threat it poses. The ongoing influx of weapons continues on the heels of President Sleiman’s visit to Damascus and before the French President’s visit, which goes to show, yet again, the real face of the Syrian regime and the intentions it harbors to this country, and the plans it continues to scheme in order to destabilize and undermine Lebanon’s security in a timing that suits its own political agenda.

The Lebanese people entrust this issue into the French President’s hands on the occasion of his visit to Damascus, and hope that he will raise it to the required level of attention due to its potentially destructive consequences, not only to Lebanon but to the entire region.

If President Sarkozy is confident in his ability to tame the Syrian regime and control its behavior vis-à-vis Lebanon, we would like to draw his attention to the need to deal with that regime with extreme caution given its customary chameleonic nature, and to consider the intentions and actions and not promises and sweet talk by the Syrians.

What really worries the Lebanese is that there is a deal in the making between Paris and Damascus at Lebanon’s expense. Otherwise, how can we explain this suspect procrastination in setting up the tribunal with an international character???

The near future will reveal the truth of what is going on between the French and Syrian capitals... We certainly hope to be wrong.

Lebanon, at your service

Abu Arz
September 5, 2008