Lebanese civil defense volunteers back down from Syria trip

Civil Defense volunteers Monday backed down on their decision to head to neighboring Syria after residents of eastern Lebanon urged them to stay in their country.

Mayor of the border town of Majdal Anjar, Sami al-Ajami, also appealed to the volunteers not to cross the border. Reports said the volunteers headed back to Beirut, without elaborating.

The reversal comes after the volunteers held a news conference in the morning in Downtown Beirut and spoke to reporters at the eastern Masnaa border crossing, vowing to enter Syria and never to return.

“We are going to Syria and we are not coming back. Even our corpses won’t return,” one volunteer told Al-Jadeed as they stood near the Masnaa border crossing. Several others echoed the same statement, expressing outrage over the Lebanese government’s failure to pass a decree to employee them full time.

In the morning, the volunteers said they decided to head to Syria to contribute to the humanitarian efforts and no longer expect anything from the Lebanese government.