Free Patriotic Movement Leader Michael Aoun was quoted by Syria's official news agency as saying Thursday: "Our Syrian brethren have helped us in the past and they will help us in the future. We had reached an understanding (in the past) and we will also reach an understanding with them in the future politically, economically and socially." Aoun was speaking at a news conference in Berlin after talks with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, according to a report by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).Aoun, according to the report, said the problem in Lebanese-Syrian relations is "a mere media problem and not a political problem. Some (factions) want to direct accusations against Syria to distort its image. This media problem has been imposed on the world to implement some people's objectives internally and externally."
Commenting on the chain of killings that has struck Lebanon, Aoun was quoted as saying: "The assassinations that happened in Lebanon are the making of hands and criminals that remain unknown because certain (forces) do not want them to be known. What is important for them is to drag this crisis into the hallways of the United Nations to distort Syria's reputation."