From the Rantburg Diplomacy Desk:
Prime Minister Omar Karameh has launched a scathing attack against the ambassadors of France and the United States, accusing them of meddling in Lebanon's domestic affairs, the press reported Thursday. | "Yar! We're all about sovereignty here in Syria Lite, er...Lebanon." |
France and the United States sponsored a UN resolution opposed by Lebanon's Syrian-backed government which calls for an end to foreign interference and the withdrawal of foreign troops, in a clear message to Damascus. "Our national dignity is violated each time we receive one of these ambassadors," Damascus protege Karameh said in remarks the Lebanese press said were clearly directed to the US and French diplomats. | Violating national dignity? Don't make us laugh. |
"This interference in our internal affairs is shameful and unacceptable, and there is not one Lebanese who can accept such insolence," he said in a speech at a Sunni Muslim community centre. Karameh lashed out at UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which he branded "a proposal for sedition" that his country would continue to oppose. "We will not stab Syria in the back," he pledged. | "They won't let us have any sharp objects."/td> |
US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage made a fresh appeal last week for Syria to end its military presence in Lebanon. Resolution 1559 was a clear message to Damascus, which dominates the political scene in its smaller neighbour and has about 14,000 troops stationed there. Also last week, the US embassy issued a statement that Washington and its allies would closely watch the election contest between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps for the legislative polls due in May.| "Don't make us send Jimmy Carter in there..." |
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