BEIRUT: The international community considers Lebanon’s stability a priority and is seeking to limit the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on the country, the United Nations Special Envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura said Friday.
On his second day of meetings with Lebanese officials, de Mistura held talks with head of the Future parliamentary bloc Fouad Siniora, during which he highlighted the international community’s dedication to Lebanon’s stability.
“I think that I was able also to elaborate with him [Siniora] what is our concern about the stability of course, which is a priority for Lebanon and for the international community,” de Mistura told reporters after the discussions.
The U.N. official said he tackled with the former prime minister the urgency of finding a political solution to the civil war in Syria “in order to make sure that the consequences which have been very heavy, and we all recognize it, to Lebanon of that conflict can be attenuated.”
Attending the talks were U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly and Future bloc MPs Ghazi Youssef and Ahmad Fatfat.
Later, de Mistura held an hourlong meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri. “I have been listening to some of his advices, I have been trying to understand also the seriousness that the Syrian conflict has produced on the concerns here in Lebanon,” de Mistura said after the talks.
“But also I have been getting some good advice on how to try to accelerate any type of political process because again, as has been in Lebanon and Lebanon can teach many things in its own history, it is fundamental that we realize that there is no military solution in the conflict in Syria.”
Additionally, de Mistura said he had “an important and useful meeting” with Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammad Fathali.
In the evening, Prime Minister Tammam Salam, who already held talks with de Mistura Thursday, organized a dinner at the Grand Serail in honor of the special envoy.
The two-day visit to Lebanon, which concluded Friday, is part of a regional tour aimed at promoting a political solution to end the Syrian crisis.
No comments:
Post a Comment