Prime Minister Fuad Siniora headed to Washington on Monday for a meeting with US President George W. Bush where he was expected to seek American political and economic support for Lebanon's efforts to extend its authority over all Lebanese territory and revive the war-shattered economy. Siniora, a member of the anti-Syrian majority coalition, will be in the United States for four days and was invited by the American leader.
Ahead of the US trip, Hizbollah officials warned Siniora against making commitments to Washington regarding disarmament of the organisation. Accompanied by the ministers of finance, economy, justice and foreign affairs, Siniora was scheduled to meet Bush at the White House on Tuesday. He will also hold talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other officials before meeting in New York with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.
Saniora's talks with Bush and Annan will focus on a 2004 UN Security Council resolution that called for the Shiite Muslim Hizbollah group and Palestinian fighters in Lebanon to disarm and a UN investigation into last year's assassination offormer prime minister Rafiq Hariri. "Prime Minister Saniora will ask President Bush for political support to help the Lebanese government in asserting its authority over all Lebanese territory," a government official, close to Siniora, told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to reporters.
The official said Saniora particularly wanted the US administration to exert pressure on Israel to vacate the Shebaa Farms, a disputed parcel of territory where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet. "An Israeli withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms will help the Lebanese government to extend its authority in the border area," the official said.
| Only problem with that is that Syria has to formally renounce its claim to Shebaa. |