Spanish Prime Minister in Beirut on Surprise Visit

 
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero arrived on Saturday on a surprise visit to meet Lebanese officials, officials said.

 

They said Zapatero will also visit Spain”s troops serving in the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

 

Zapatero held a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Fouad Saniora on arrival at the airport in Beirut, the officials said.

 

He then flew by helicopter to the south of the country to visit the Spanish contingent of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Lebanese and UNIFIL sources told AFP.

 

Spain has nearly 1,100 troops in southeastern Lebanon near the border with Israel as part of UNIFIL, which was boosted to more than 13,000 soldiers after the 2006 summer war between Israel and Hizbullah.

 

Six members of the Spanish contingent were killed on June 24 last year when a booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle passed by.

 

Spain has been one of the leading countries trying to end Lebanon”s long-standing political crisis.

 

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos has made several trips to Beirut and Syria in a bid to help break the deadlock over the past few months.

 

Lebanon has also been without a president since the mandate of pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud expired on November 23 amid sharp divisions between the ruling majority and the opposition, which is backed by Syria and Iran.