Syria on Wednesday slammed Terje Roed-Larsen, the top UN diplomat on Lebanese ties with Syria. The UN official was quoted last week as saying Syria continues to smuggle arms to Lebanon's Hizbullah fighters.
In a letter sent by the Syrian Foreign Ministry to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and President of the Security Council through its Permanent Representative to the UN, Syria indicated that the allegations by Roed-Larsen were an attempt to again escalate the atmospheres and further deteriorate the relation with Lebanon and in the region more than ever.
It added that Larsen's allegations also seek to divert the UN Security Council attention away into "marginal issues rather than following up its main duties through concentration on non-essential and insignificant issues and neglecting the sensitive issues which destabilize safety and stability of Lebanon."
The letter added that Mr. Larsen in his recent report to UN Security Council ignored the latest Israeli aggression on Lebanon which destroyed the infrastructure and displaced thousands of Lebanese and killed hundreds of Lebanese.
The Syrian letter said that Mr. Larsen also ignored Israeli flagrant continued violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, airspace and waters and national soil. It stressed that the statements issued by Lebanese officials, including Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs and Army Commander, had dismissed as "unfounded" Larsen's allegations and were a strong blow to the credibility of the report and its writer.
