BEIRUT, Lebanon - The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday said Syria's threat to close the border with Lebanon if international troops were deployed along the frontier shows that "the viewpoints are still apart."

The bishops voiced concern that Syria's warning to close its border with Lebanon, the ongoing power struggle as well as the controversial issues over the formation of a new cabinet and the international tribunal "threaten the fate of the nation entirely."

On Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem repeated a threat he made several months ago in which he said Damascus will not allow international monitoring of its border with Lebanon.

A statement issued at the end of the bishops' monthly meeting and read by Monsignor Youssef Tawq urged rival Lebanese camps to "abandon their factional stands … and find a Lebanese solution to the current crisis." -Naharnet