SYRIA: Lebanese politician Michel Aoun turns page on turbulent past with Syria visit

Record ID: 279667

  • Title: SYRIA: Lebanese politician Michel Aoun turns page on turbulent past with Syria visit
  • Date: 4th December 2008
  • Summary: DAMASCUS, SYRIA (DECEMBER 3, 2008) (REUTERS) ***FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** LEBANESE OPPOSITION LEADER MICHEL AOUN WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE WOODEN EAGLE -- SYRIA'S SYMBOL -- ON WALL NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS CAMERA CREWS AOUN TALKING
  • Embargoed: 19th December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA6WN1H0646GW1WNG4WZRQ3TBQQ
  • Story Text: Lebanese politician Michel Aoun says talks with Syria's leaders purged 'Lebanon and Syria of the traces of a painful past.
    Lebanese politician Michel Aoun turned the page on a turbulent past with Syria on Wednesday (December 3) in a visit to Damascus condemned by rivals who still see the neighbouring state as a threat.
    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad greeted Aoun, leader of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement, warmly at his hilltop palace in a meeting underlining the dramatic shift in the position of the former general who was defeated in battle by Syrian forces at the end of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.
    "Our discussion with the President was very clear. We broached many issues in a frank manner because we want to build the future and not be held back by the past," said Aoun, who heads the largest Christian bloc in parliament.
    "We spoke from our hearts and with our minds, in order to purge both Lebanon and Syria of the traces of a painful past," Aoun added.
    Buthaina Shaaban, an adviser to Assad, said Aoun's visit opened "a new era in relations between Syria and Lebanon".
    Aoun holds no official post, but he is an influential figure in Lebanon's sectarian politics and an ally of the powerful Shi'ite Hezbollah, a pro-Syrian faction with a guerrilla army.
    Relations between Damascus and Beirut have improved this year after an agreement to calm a bitter power struggle between a U.S.-backed coalition opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon and an alliance led by Hezbollah and its allies, including Aoun.
    73-year-old Aoun was prime minister of an interim government when he was forced into exile under Syrian fire in 1990.
    He returned to Beirut in 2005 after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon following an international outcry over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
    Syria's opponents in Lebanon accuse Damascus of orchestrating the Hariri killing and other assassinations since his death. Syria denies the charges.
    Aoun was a harsh critic of Syria's role in Lebanon from exile in France but says he changed his views once Syrian troops had ended their 29-year presence in his country.
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