Beirut, Lebanon
Tuesday, 13 November 2012
United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly today visited Tripoli. He met political leaders and the Mufti of Tripoli and the North, Sheikh Malek El-Shaar. He also visited a school serving children from both the Bab El-Tabbeneh and Jabal Mohsen districts and a registration center for Syrian refugees managed by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).
In remarks to the press at the end of the visit, Mr Plumbly welcomed the recent calm in the city and the role played by the security forces but stressed the responsibility of all concerned to avoid a recurrence of the violence and to hold accountable those responsible.
He said that his visit to the Qobbeh secondary school had underlined for him just how important “Al-Aysh El-Mushtarak” was: communities could live together, and all in Tripoli deserved to enjoy sustainable peace and stability, and the economic development that would bring.
Mr. Plumbly also paid tribute to the work of UNHCR in Tripoli and north Lebanon, and to the hospitality extended to Syrian refugees by communities there. Recent fighting in Syria had brought more refugees. Lebanon was meeting its humanitarian obligations, but with the approach of winter there was recognition that more needed to be done, particularly in respect of shelter.