U.N. Envoy Meets Saniora, Reiterates Importance of Stability in Lebanon
United Nations Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura continued on Friday his tour on Lebanese officials on his second day of visit to Lebanon, stressing the international community's determination to maintain stability in the country.
The U.N. official discussed with head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc Fouad Saniora the general situation in Lebanon and the region.
He was accompanied by U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly.
“The meeting was beneficial as I was briefed on his (Saniora's) opinion over the developments in Lebanon and the region amid the ongoing turmoil in Syria and its repercussions on neighboring countries,” De Mistura said after the meeting.
The official reiterated the international community's staunch support for Lebanon's stability.
De Mistura held talks on Thursday with Prime Minister Tammam Salam, Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat and Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem.
The envoy revealed that he will leave Lebanon and head on a tour that will include Iran, Turkey and other countries in the region and Russia.
De Mistura's meeting with Qassem was the first between a representative of the U.N. and a Hizbullah official since the beginning of the conflict in Syria by more than three years.
De Mistura was appointed to the Syria job in July, after his predecessor, Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, resigned in May following the failure of peace talks.
The Syrian conflict has acquired a new dimension with the advance of Islamic State jihadists battling to establish an Islamic caliphate in the region.
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