SYRIA / LEBANON: Italian foreign minister holds talks in Syria and Lebanon

Record ID: 279092

  • Title: SYRIA / LEBANON: Italian foreign minister holds talks in Syria and Lebanon
  • Date: 3rd May 2007
  • Summary: D'ALEMA AND SINIORA AT JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(Italian) ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MASSIMO D'ALEMA SAYING: "We expressed our desire to encourage Speaker Berri and Prime Minister Siniora to reach an agreement to remove Lebanon from the current political and institutional stalemate." D'ALEMA AND SINIORA DURING JOINT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE)(Italian) ITALIAN FOREIG
  • Embargoed: 18th May 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVADTLWOFQSB8C4X6KSD1SFH30H4
  • Story Text: Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Tuesday (June 5) for talks at the highest level of Syrian officials. D'Alema told reporters at his arrival on Monday (June 4) that he would be urging Syrian co-operation in the region. The Italian Foreign Minister then travelled to Lebanon to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and called on Lebanese leaders to find a way out of a political crisis that has crippled the country's main governing institutions for months. D'Alema held talks with rival politicians including Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri who is a key leader of the pro-Syrian opposition demanding the Siniora government step down. "We expressed our desire to encourage Speaker Berri and Prime Minister Siniora to reach an agreement to remove Lebanon from the current political and institutional stalemate," said D'Alema whose country leads the 12,000-strong U.N. peace keeping force in the south, which was beefed up following the Israel-Hezbollah war last summer. In April D'Alema said that Lebanon's worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war was undermining U.N. peacekeeping objectives like disarming Hezbollah militias and tightening borders. The crisis centred on the U.N.-backed proposal for a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others on Feb. 14, 2005. The U.N. approved the court unilaterally last week. Siniora's governing coalition accuses Syria of orchestrating Hariri's 2005 assassination and subsequent killings. Damascus denies it. D'Alema also voiced support for the government's action too uproot Islamist militants in a Palestinian refugee camp. But he said the army should be aware of guarding civilian lives in its assault on Nahr al-Bared camp where Fatah al-Islam militants are holed up. "It is very important to distinguish, like Prime Minister Siniora said, between uprooting the terrorist group and preventing the suffering of the Palestinian people who have found themselves dragged into this conflict by force," he said. Siniora said Lebanon was keen on having good ties with its neighbour Syria. "The meeting was an occasion to reiterate Lebanon's stance which is the desire to have only good and strong relations with Syria," said Siniora. NNNN
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register