Lahoud rejects settling the Palestinians in Lebanon

Lebanon's president, Emile Lahoud, has stressed his country's keenness to maintain fraternal relations of cooperation with Syria.

During his meeting with US Congress delegation yesterday, Lahoud said that any solution to the Middle East issue would remain unattainable unless the Palestinian's "right to return to their homeland is guaranteed and the restoration of the occupied Arab lands in Syria and Lebanon based on the UN resolutions."

Lahoud underlined that all Lebanese categorically reject settling the Palestinians in Lebanon on a permenant basis, expressing hope that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza Strip will pave the way for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

For his part, head of the American delegation Tom Davis said that he is aware that all the Lebanese were unanimous on that the Palestinian refugees should not remain in Lebanon as part of the final solution.

On the other hand, President Lahoud stressed that the UN Investigation Committee which is in charge of the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri didn't arrest any of the security leaders who were summoned by the committee.

Lahoud added that since the first moment the crime took place, he called for an international investigation committee to uncover the truth. He pointed out that what is happening came in the framework of the investigation that the international committee is carrying out, asserting that no one had been arrested, and the media exagerated the matter.