BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman instructed caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour to lodge a complaints with the Arab League and the U.N. against Syria, sources said Thursday, in a move ratcheting up tensions between the two neighbors.

 

“Sleiman asked Mansour to file a complaint with the Arab League and the Security Council against Syria for violating Lebanese sovereignty and jeopardizing the lives Lebanese citizens,” a Baabda Palace source told The Daily Star.

 

Mansour, who has ignored similar requests for anti-Syria complaints in the past, was unavailable to comment on the new complaint demand.

 

But political sources ruled out the possibility of Mansour filing a complaint with the U.N. Security Council against Syria because this would set a precedent among Arab states in taking their disputes to the United Nations.

 

Even before Lebanon acted to complain to the Arab League and the U.N., Syria urged the Lebanese Army to control the porous border between the two countries.

 

Mansour said he received Thursday a letter from Syria’s Deputy premier and Foreign Minister Walid alMoallem dealing with the tense situation on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

 

In his letter, Moallem referred to the security agreements signed by the two countries, saying, “Syria is keen on Lebanon’s security and stressing the importance of the Lebanese Army controlling the border in order to guarantee security and stability.”

 

Mansour said Moallem hoped the Lebanese authorities would exert all possible efforts to take “necessary measures in the framework of mutual concern for the respect of the sovereignty and territories of the two states.”

 

The planned complaint against Syria’s violations of Lebanese sovereignty was believed to have been discussed during a meeting between caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Mansour at the Grand Serail.

 

The discussions covered developments in Lebanon and the region and the situation on the Lebanese-Syrian border, in addition to matters pertaining to the Foreign Ministry, said a terse statement released by Mikati’s office.

 

Sleiman’s decision to file a complaint against Syria came a day after a Syrian helicopter fired rockets at the Bekaa Valley town of Arsal, wounding one resident and causing damage to several buildings.

 

Security sources told The Daily Star that a total of six rockets had been fired during Wednesday’s attack.

 

The predominantly Sunni Arsal is a haven for Syrian refugees fleeing the war in their country and the town’s residents are largely supportive of the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad.Also, four rockets fired Wednesday night from Syria hit the Bekaa Valley towns of Sireen and Nabi Sheet, southwest of Baalbek, an area considered a stronghold of Hezbollah, which is fighting alongside Syrian government troops inside Syria.Sleiman followed up the attacks on the border towns in northeast Lebanon during a phone conversation with Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi, who briefed the president on details of those incidents, especially in Sireen and Nabi Sheet, according to a statement released by Sleiman’s office.

 

Kahwagi also briefed the president on the instructions given to the Army to respond to the sources of fire, the statement said.

 

While Sleiman and the Lebanese Army vowed Wednesday to respond to Syria’s repeated violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty, the Syrian army confirmed the attack on Arsal, saying a helicopter “targeted terrorist groups trying to flee toward Lebanese territory; some of the terrorists were hit, while others fled to the Arsal region.”

 

U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly voiced concern about the border violations and called for respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty.

 

“I take this opportunity to note our concern over recent events in the Bekaa, including the shelling on Hermel earlier in the week and the attack on Arsal yesterday [Wednesday],” Plumbly said in a statement after meeting Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam at the latter’s residence in Moseitbeh.

 

“The United Nations in the past stressed and I would like to emphasize here now the importance of respect for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. “These developments illustrate yet again the need for a government capable of addressing the many challenges which Lebanon now faces.”

 

France also denounced the attack on Arsal, saying it was a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty.

 

“France firmly condemns the June 12 bombardment on the Lebanese [town] of Arsal, which constitutes a violation to the integrity of Lebanon’s sovereignty,” the French Foreign Ministry said on its website.

 

“All provocations and attempts [to target] civil peace in Lebanon ... are unacceptable,” the statement said.

 

Paris expressed solidarity with Lebanon and reaffirmed “its support to [the country’s political] institutions and their guarantor President Sleiman.”

 

Washington also condemned as “unacceptable provocation” Syria’s helicopter attack on Arsal and warned of the incident’s impact on Lebanon.