Syrian President Bashar al-Assad talking with people inside the country. The Syrian government has accepted a peace plan peddled by former UN General Secretary Kofi Anan., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Ex-Lebanese informatin minister censures US senator's visit to Lebanon
Thu May 3, 2012 4:29AM GMT
presstv.ir
Former Lebanese Information Minister Michel Samaha has censured a recent visit by US Senator Joseph Lieberman to Lebanon and its northern border with Syria, Press TV reports.
Samaha strongly criticized the visit by Lieberman, saying the trip was mainly aimed at making “connections with the armed terrorists inside Syria.”
“What does Mr. Lieberman have to do with the Lebanese-Syrian border?”
The former Lebanese minister made the comments in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday.
Lieberman arrived in Lebanon on Wednesday and met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Najib Mikati and other senior officials.
He expressed support for the Syrian opposition in a press conference after the meetings in Beirut. The US senator claimed he was “concerned that people in the region and throughout the world have not done enough to be supportive of the opposition in Syria.”
Lieberman and Republican Senator John McCain have advocated the arming of the Syrian opposition against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Lieberman also visited the northern Lebanese region of Wadi Khaled, located near the Syrian border, on Wednesday. The region houses groups of those Syrians seeking refuge in Lebanon.
In addition to Lieberman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman was also in Lebanon on Wednesday to hold talks with leaders of the March 14 coalition of Lebanon.
The Wednesday visit by the US officials to Lebanon comes at a time when armed groups continue random attacks in Syria despite a ceasefire that took effect on April 12.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Wednesday at least 15 Syrian security forces were killed in an attack by armed groups in the northern province of Aleppo.
The ceasefire was part of a six-point peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in March.
Michel Samaha also told Press TV that the countries “hosting terrorists and giving them arms, ammunition and money are undermining the peace plan.”
Lieberman and the delegation accompanying him visited Saudi Arabia and Qatar prior to the trip to Lebanon.
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