U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Damascus on Sunday of continuing to destabilize Lebanon. According to statements by Rice in London, Syria is "stirring up difficulties in the Palestinian camps in Lebanon." She added that Damascus also continues to disregard UN Security Council Resolution 1559, issued September 2, 2004, which called for a complete Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the end of all Syrian interference in its eastern neighbor's affairs. It also calls for disarming all militia in Lebanon, including those of the Palestinian camps and Hizbullah's military wing. "I think you will see over the next couple of weeks that we will have to address these issues in a multi-lateral fashion," Rice said.Syria had claimed to have withdrawn all of its troops from Lebanon by the end of April of this year, but the U.S. continues to claim that Syrian intelligence forces remain in Lebanon to destabilize the situation. Damascus was also accused by the Lebanese media earlier this month of sending armed Palestinian fighters from a pro-Syrian offshoot of Fatah into Lebanon, where the group maintains a training camp. Rice, who is currently on a European tour, had already met on Friday with French President Jacques Chirac. On Saturday, she met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The U.S. official's discussions with the French and Russian presidents included the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1595, which call upon the international community to assist the international probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Both European leaders expressed after their meetings their insistence on the implementing of all UN resolutions. Rice warned Syria against destabilizing Lebanon and stressed the "importance of a complete Syrian cooperation" with the international probe into Hariri's assassination.