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Aoun on historic Syria visit
 Lebanese Christian leader Michelle Aoun, long hostile to Syria, arrived in Damascus on Wednesday in a historic first visit to Syria that will include talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and leaders of Syria's Christian community.Lt. General Aoun, head of the parliamentary minority, told reporters at the airport that he hoped that his visit would usher in a bright stage in the Syrian-Lebanese relations, the official SANA news agency reported. The head of the Lebanese arrived at the Damascus International Airport aboard Assad's private plane of and was met by Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Fisal al-Miqdad, who took him to the al-Shaab presidential palace. The Syrian al-Watan daily quoted Aoun on Wednesday as saying that his three-day talks in Damascus would touch on Syrian-Lebanese diplomatic ties, demarcating borders and the missing Lebanese who are believed to be detained in Syria. Aoun dismissed criticism of the historic visit by the rival March 14 coalition led by Saad Hariri, whose father Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister, was assassinated in 2005 in a bombing many blame on Syria. "I am being attacked because I said that Christianity had originated in Syria," the Lebanese al-Nahar daily quoted him as saying before his trip. "I want to separate Christians from the March 14 alliance because it was mistaken." Posted by: Fred 2008-12-04 |
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