Miqati Denies al-Mustaqbal Report that he Visited Syria in Sept.

Prime Minister Najib Miqati denied on Tuesday that he visited Damascus earlier in Sept. ahead of his visit to Paris to join the "Friends of Libya" conference.

Miqati’s press office said in a statement that this report is false, noting that all the PM’s visits are official and declared “according to principles.”

Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported that Miqati visited Syria earlier in Sept. on his way to join the "Friends of Libya" conference in Paris.

“Miqati moved to Damascus from Paris aboard a private jet, where he met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem and former head of Syria's military intelligence in Lebanon Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh for two hours. Then he went back to Paris and then to Beirut,” an informed source told the daily

He noted that the visit was set after direct contacts were requested by Miqati to discuss various issues, including his visit to New York to head the United Nations Security Council sessions and hold meetings with international and U.S. officials.

The source confirmed that Muallem asked Miqati to assess the U.S. administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s stances on a proposal that the Syrian leadership is ready to make compromises on regional issues concerning Palestine and Iraq if in return the U.S. decreases its pressure on the regime.

“Although Muallem could’ve suggested this proposal directly (to U.S. officials) during his visit to New York, (President Bashar) Assad’s regime wanted a third party to interfere proclaiming that the Syrian leadership didn’t know about it,” the source noted.

He said that the Assad’s regime was keen to deny any such proposal if it was exposed “because it would have given a sign of weakness on the local level and complicate things with the regional allies.”