SYRIA: Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visits Damascus and holds talks with Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem and vice-President Farouk al-Shara

Record ID: 279358

  • Title: SYRIA: Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visits Damascus and holds talks with Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem and vice-President Farouk al-Shara
  • Date: 1st August 2007
  • Summary: (MER1) DAMASCUS, SYRIA (JULY 31, 2007) (REUTERS) SPANISH FOREIGN MINISTER MIGUEL ANGEL MORATINOS ARRIVING AT THE SYRIAN VICE-PRESIDENT'S OFFICE VARIOUS OF MEETING BETWEEN MORATINOS AND SYRIAN VICE-PRESIDENT FAROUK AL-SHARA CAMERAMEN COMING OUT OF MEETING ROOM EXTERIOR OF SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 16th August 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA8ISZDU8YOAT4Y5DUIV0VLCEGG
  • Story Text: Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos held separate talks in Damascus on Tuesday (July 31) with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem and vice-President Farouk al-Shara.
    Moratinos, who is on a tour of the Middle East, was expected to discuss the situation in the region and the current political crisis in Lebanon.
    Lebanon was plunged into its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war last November, when opposition ministers quit Siniora's government after he refused to grant the opposition veto power in government.
    The Lebanese army has also been fighting al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al-Islam militants in northern Lebanon where at least 204 people have been killed since May 20.
    Bombs in and around Beirut, an assassination on an anti-Syrian lawmaker and a fatal car bomb attack on U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have further exacerbate Lebanon's fragile political landscape.
    The anti-Syrian majority in Siniora's cabinet accuses the opposition, made up of mainly Christian and pro-Syrian Shi'ite Muslim factions, of trying to derail a special tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 killing of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri.
    Pro-government leaders say Syria is responsible for Hariri's assassination, a charge Damascus denies.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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