Bush”s Patience on Assad Ran Out, Says World will Embrace President Elected by Majority-Plus One
U.S. President George Bush ruled out direct talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying that his patience on him “ran out a long time ago.”
“So if he”s listening, he doesn”t need a phone call, he knows exactly what my position is,” Bush said Thursday at a year-end press conference after being asked whether he would talk to Assad to work on ending Lebanon”s political crisis.
“My patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago, and the reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hizbullah suiciders go from his country into Iraq, and he destabilizes Lebanon,” said Bush.
The U.S. leader said he was particularly vexed by Syria”s continued alleged efforts to foment instability in Lebanon, despite having formally withdrawn troops from the country some two and a half years ago, in April 2005.
“It is very important that Lebanon”s democracy succeed,” Bush said.
“I worked with the French to get Syria out of Lebanon, and Syria needs to stay out of Lebanon. Syria needs to let the process in Lebanon work.”
Anti-Syrian politicians in Beirut have accused Damascus of being behind a wave of assassinations that have rocked Lebanon since October 2004, a charge Syria has vociferously denied.
The political assassinations, including that of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005, have unleashed the greatest period of turmoil since the upheaval of Lebanon”s 1975-1990 civil war.
The most recent of those attacks earlier this month, a car bombing, killed top Lebanese army General Francois el-Hajj.
Hajj, 54, was targeted as he was tipped to replace army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman, the frontrunner to become Lebanon”s next president but whose election has been blocked by a standoff between pro- and anti-Syrian camps.
Lebanon has been without a president since November 23 when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud”s term ended without a successor in place.
The government and the opposition have agreed on Suleiman as a compromise candidate to replace Lahoud but remain at odds over the election process and the shape of a new government.
Bush on Thursday urged them to resolve their differences.
“I appreciate the sides trying to work on a common ground for a president, but if they can”t come for agreement, then the world ought to say this: that the March 14th coalition can run their candidate in their parliament, majority- plus one ought to determine who the president is, and when that happens, the world ought to embrace the president.”
Bush”s remarks came as he prepared to head to the Middle East next month, mostly to advance the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“I want to continue to work with our Arab friends on reconciliation with Israel,” Bush said at his press conference.
He added that he hopes during the trip to be able “to ensure people in the Middle East that we understand” and to demonstrate America”s “strong commitment to the security of the region and … to the security of our friends.
“It is going to be a great trip,” the U.S. president said.
Bush”s January 8 to 18 trip — his first to Israel and the West Bank — also will take him to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt, and comes on the heels of a peace conference he launched in Annapolis, Maryland late last month.