On the Lebanese general elections
Lebanon, Politics, 3/25/2005

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced from Paris, in an interview with the TV channel 3, that president Bashar al-Assad will give a defined schedule for the withdrawal of his forces from Lebanon within one week.

The US secretary general Kofi Annan expected on Wednesday in Algiers that this withdrawal will be materialized by the fall of April, the date of the meeting of the Lebanese- Syrian military committee to define the mechanism for implementing the second phase of the Syrian withdrawal.

Concerning the next general elections in Lebanon, the US Department Of State called for organizing the vote at its due time and in the presence of international observers.

Meantime, the US under secretary of state David Satterfield, currently visiting Lebanon for the second time within several weeks, said that the elections should proceed forward "in a free and transparent way and in the presence of international observers and in its due time," noting "this should be a priority."

Satterfield, who was talking after his meeting with the patriarch of the Maronite Church, Nasrullah Sfeir, added that what he called for as a quick vote is necessary to create "different political atmosphere." Sfeir who did not disclose the agenda of his visit to Beirut warned that what he called the foreign forces are trying to destabilize Lebanon.

Meantime, the US Department Of State said it is determined to work together with the international group to liberate Lebanon from what he called foreign forces and foreign humiliation.

Previous Stories:
  Washington seeks to convince Paris to consider Hizbullah a terrorist party   (3/24/2005)
  Syria does not fear the repetition of the Iraqi scenario   (3/24/2005)
  Lebanese defense minister hopes for support from the Arab summit   (3/24/2005)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search