Hariri calls Lebanon stance on Syria ‘shameful’; Iraq says Arab League decision ‘unacceptable’

Lebanon’s former prime minister Saad Hariri on Sunday slammed his country’s decision to vote against Arab League punitive measures on Syria while Iraq said the League's decision was unacceptable but also called on Damascus to open dialogue with the opposition.

“It is shameful and I hope the Syrian people know that this government doesn’t represent the Lebanese will,” Hariri said in a message posted on Twitter.

“This is not the Lebanese will that voted, it is the Hezbollah government headed by (Najib) Mikati,” added Hariri, who leads the pro-Western opposition camp in Lebanon.

Hariri has been living abroad since Hezbollah brought down his government in January.

The Arab League suspended Syria on Saturday until President Bashar al-Assad implements an Arab deal to end violence against protesters, and called for sanctions and transition talks with the opposition.

Yemen, Syria and Lebanon were the only countries to vote against the measures adopted by the 22-member regional bloc.

“Finally the Arabs took their responsibilities towards the plight of the Syrian people seeking freedom, democracy and dignity,” Hariri tweeted.

The turmoil in Syria has driven a wedge between Hezbollah, which supports Assad’s regime, and the opposition in Lebanon which resents Damascus for its 30-year political and military control over its smaller neighbor.

Asked by a Twitter user whether he thought the fall of Assad’s regime would have negative repercussions for the Middle East, Hariri said: “No I think it will be the best thing for the region.”

The Assad regime was widely blamed for the 2005 assassination of Saad’s father Rafiq Hariri, who was also Lebanon’s prime minister, but Damascus has always denied any involvement.

Iraqo government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, meanwhile said on Iraqiya television that “suspending Syria’s membership in the Arab League came in an unacceptable way.”

Iraq was the only country to abstain from the Saturday vote to suspend Syria’s membership in the Arab League over its crackdown on dissent which has left more than 3,500 people dead, according to U.N. figures.

“This decision was was not taken against other countries that have bigger crisis than the Syrian crisis,” said Dabbagh.

Libya is the only other country that has been suspended from the regional bloc since a wave of pro-reform protests swept across the Arab world this year.

“The stability and security of Syria is important to Iraq, and the Iraqi government has called its Syrian counterpart to dialogue with the opposition, and to carry out the requested reforms.

“We want complete freedom for (Syrians), but not in this forced way that moves the Syrian issue ... to internationalization,” he said. “This issue is very dangerous.”