Syrian Civil War Spreading

The Syrian civil war spread into Lebanon on Sunday, December 8. Reports indicate that there were four fatalities from gunfire in clashes that took place in the city of Tripoli. Rebel forces have recently gained influence in Northern Syria, as well as near Damascus. the United Nation’s Special Representative for Syria and the Arab League, Lakdhar Brahimi, met with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Geneva to discuss the state of Syria’s conflict. The three representatives agreed that the conflict was growing progressively worse, and have stated that a political end to the conflict is “still necessary and possible.” A number of allied nations have called for Assad to step down from his leadership in Syria, in order to stop the violence.

Russia has recently been criticized for supporting Assad’s regime. In response to these accusations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has stated that the country did not back Assad: rather, Russian officials do not want to negotiate over Assad in any way, be that in defense or condemnation.

The Syrian government has reportedly assured Lavrov that any weapons of mass destruction, chemical or otherwise, will never be used in the conflict. Lavrov has stated that the primary concern at this time for Assad’s regime is to keep these weapons from falling into the hands of the resistance. Lavrov has gone on to urge fellow nations of the U.N. to press for a cease-fire “in one voice,” return U.N. observers to the area in larger numbers, and begin political discussion once again.