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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| 'Syria ready to help solve Lebanon's political crisis' |
| 2008-04-08 |
| Syria is willing to help Lebanon's rival factions reach a national accord to end the ever-deepening Lebanese political crisis, the pro-Syrian Lebanese parliament speaker said Monday. Nabih Berri, aligned with the Syrian-backed opposition against Lebanon's Western-backed government, spoke after a two-hour meeting in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad. It was the first such meeting in nearly two years between Syrian president and a high-ranking Lebanese official. Tensions between the two neighbors have increased, and Lebanon last week boycotted the Arab summit in Damascus. Lebanon's Syrian-backed opposition is locked in a power struggle with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's government and the sharply divided Lebanese parliament has failed to elect a president since last September. "I tell our people in Lebanon, the Arabs and the world, that brothers in Syria have no conditions at all on an inter-Lebanese accord," Berri told reporters. "On the contrary, they are ready for any help they might be asked for." Berri's remarks sharply contrasted accusations by the United States and Lebanon's anti-Syrian factions that Syria was responsible for deepening the Lebanese crisis by blocking the election of a new president. Damascus has denied the charge, while its Lebanese allies have blamed Washington for scuttling attempts to reach a solution. Although they have decided in principle on Army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as a consensus president, Lebanese lawmakers failed to elect him because rival sides can't agree on the shape of the future government. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Yeah, I'm sure Syria has just the thing. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-04-08 08:17 |