Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri has taken a jab at Washington and said Lebanon is not a staging ground for US regional policies. Berri paid tribute to various countries including Russia, France, Italy, Spain and the Arab League for their contribution to end a stalemate between Hezbollah-led opposition and the Lebanese western-backed government. "I thank the United States nonetheless, seeing that it seems to have been convinced that Lebanon is not the appropriate place for its plan for the greater Middle East region," said Berri. "This plan in our opinion has no proper place for the birth pangs or the birth of a new Middle East," he added.
Berri was pointing to the remarks made by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who referred to Hezbollah's 33-day war against the Zionist regime as part of the "birth pangs of a new Middle East". |