Feltman Meets Suleiman, Stresses U.S. Support for Lebanon’s Independence, Sovereignty
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman held talks with President Michel Suleiman at the Baabda Palace on Thursday.
The U.S. official stressed the United States’ support for Lebanon’s independence, sovereignty, and stability.
The talks also addressed the current regional developments and Suleiman’s speech during the Arab summit that was held in Baghdad in late March.
During his speech, the president said: “The developments in the Arab world require wise and brave decisions.”
This requires the rulers to make the right choices that would achieve the greater good of the Arab countries that would lead to their stability and unity, he added.
In order to accomplish this goal, all sides must commit to the “true democratic Arabism, based on equality and the need to maintain diversity, which is embodied in the various sects existing in the region,” Suleiman stated.
“Lebanon therefore seeks to contribute to these changes based on its principles of freedom, dialogue, and mutual coexistence,” he continued.
Feltman is later scheduled to meet with Premier Najib Miqati, a day after he reportedly reminded Lebanese officials that Lebanon has financial and humanitarian obligations towards Syrian refugees.
Also Thursday, Feltman held talks with Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Beirut Elias Audeh and March 14 opposition members at MP Butros Harb's residence.
Gemayel said after the meeting that Feltman’s visit confirms that Lebanon remains the axis of diplomatic activity in the region.
A U.S. embassy statement said Wednesday that Feltman expressed Washington’s “steadfast support for pluralistic and democratic governments in the region that protect the rights of all citizens, including ethnic and religious minorities.”
He met on Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and Maronite Archbishop of Beirut Boulos Matar. He held talks with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat on Tuesday.
The embassy said Feltman “met with senior officials to discuss the political, economic, and security situation in Lebanon, developments in Syria, and other regional issues.”
But An Nahar daily quoted several of the personalities as saying that Feltman is “reminding them of Lebanon’s international obligations in financial and humanitarian issues and the imposed sanctions on the Syrian regime and Iran.”
The U.S. diplomat is also pressuring Lebanon into holding the 2013 parliamentary elections on time, they said.
Berri told An Nahar that his talks with Feltman focused on the exploration of gas and oil in Lebanon’s Exclusive Economic Zone. “What we care for is to define the maritime border between Lebanon and Israel and not to give up our rights.”
An Israeli map on the sea border conflicts with Lebanon's proposed borders, which give the Jewish state less territorial waters. Beirut argues its map is in line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949, an agreement which is not contested by Israel.
As Safir newspaper also quoted Berri as telling Feltman that both the March 8 majority coalition and the March 14 opposition alliance agree on stability and reject the smuggling of arms to Syria through the Lebanese-Syrian border.
In his talks with Geagea, the U.S. official heard the details of the LF chief’s assassination attempt and the ongoing investigation to find the snipers who fired several shots on him as he was walking in the garden of his fortified residence in Maarab.
An Nahar said Geagea stressed to Feltman that the opposition holds onto holding the parliamentary elections on time and asked him for continued U.S. assistance to the Lebanese army.
Feltman’s talks with Jumblat on Tuesday also focused on the 2013 polls, As Safir said.
It quoted PSP sources as saying that the Druze leader explained to his visitor his rejection to the adoption of proportional representation in the elections.
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