Lebanese-Syrian peace tracks inseparable, Lebanese cleric says

The chairman of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council in Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Mehdi Shamseddine, has asserted the inseparability of the Syrian and Lebanese tracks in the talks to achieve a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, providing for the restoration of land and rights to their owners.

In a ceremony held in Beirut on Sunday commemorating Lebanese martyrs, Sheikh Shamseddine expressed appreciation for the sacrifices and aid offered by Syria to maintain Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to support the Lebanese resistance in challenging Israeli troops. He affirmed that the Lebanese resistance has a legitimate right to liberate the South and western Bekaa from the Israeli occupation.