Syrians Welcome Lebanese Accord

Media outlets in Syria, both official and opposition, have welcomed the Doha agreement between rival Lebanese parties.



An editorial authored by Ezeldin Darwish in the state-run Tishreen newspaper praised the factions for coming together and “rejecting American pressure”.



Syria and the United States have accused one another of prolonging the months-long political stalemate between the western-backed government and the Syrian-aligned opposition led by Hezbollah.



In a May 23 article published in the official daily Al-Thawra, editor-in-chief Asa Abbod maintained that Syria was “the first to benefit from a quiet, stable and peaceful Lebanon”, and “the first to be harmed by chaos there”.



He repeated the government’s official stance that Lebanon’s problems are the internal affairs of that country.



In a May 27 article in the pro-government paper Al-Watan, writer Waddah Abed Rabuh noted that Syria had sent a letter to France and Arab countries insisting that the Lebanese political crisis could not be solved at the expense of any one party.



Syrian policy proved “the real victor”, he wrote, arguing that Damascus had won kudos for proving it knew how to deal with Lebanon.



The opposition groups also welcomed the Doha agreement. The Damascus Declaration, which pushes for democratic governance in Syria, congratulated the Lebanese for uniting.



"We recognise that Syria’s road to freedom and democracy is linked to what is happening in Lebanon," the Damascus Declaration wrote on its website on May 24.