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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Rice says Hezbollah still listed terrorist organization |
| 2008-06-17 |
| (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice on Monday extended U.S. support to Lebanon's future democratically-elected government but said Washington still lists Shiite militant group Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Rice's remarks came after meeting Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and were in reply to a question about the U.S. stand regarding a new Lebanese cabinet which will include Hezbollah ministers, LBC TV reported. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Rice voiced U.S. support to Lebanon's forthcoming democratically elected government, adding that she congratulated Berri for the achievement of Doha accord, election of President Michel Suleiman and reopening of the parliament. Rice made a surprising visit to Lebanon's capital on Monday, meeting majority leader MP Saad Hariri, designated Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and the newly-elected president. After talks with Seniora, she reiterated U.S. support to Lebanon's sovereignty and democracy, saying that "I look forward to working with the Lebanese government and democratic institutions." She expressed hope that UN resolution 1701 and other related resolutions would be implemented and that the issue of Shebaa farms would be solved. The Lebanese territory was captured by Israel during the 1967 Mideast war. Israel pulled out of south Lebanon in 2000, but kept control over the disputed Shebaa farms, where the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet. Hezbollah was the only Lebanese group which did not have to hand over its weapons in 1989, according to the Taef accord which ended its 15 years of civil war. Hezbollah said the group will keep its arms as long as there are Lebanese territories under the Israeli occupation. Rice revealed that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is working on the implementation of UN resolutions. Upon her arrival earlier Monday, Rice met Suleiman at the presidential palace and said the U.S. supports "democratically elected government in Lebanon." "Doha accord serves the interest of the Lebanese people, so the U.S. supports this accord," Rice said. Under the aegis of the Arab League, the Western-backed ruling majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition reached an agreement in Doha on May 21, ending a 18-month-long political deadlock in the country. The first phase of the agreement led to the election of Suleiman as the new president on May 25 after six months of a presidential vacuum. The second step is to form a national unity government giving the opposition led by Hezbollah the long-awaited veto power, but formation of the cabinet has been delayed by disagreement over keyportfolio since late May. The rival leaders also agreed to adopt the 1960 electoral law under the Doha accord which came after a 18-month-long political crisis in the country turned violent earlier in May. The latest visit of Rice to Lebanon was in July 2006 during the33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah. |
| Posted by:Fred |