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Miliband arrives in Beirut
Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in Beirut late Sunday for a 24-hour visit during which he was to hold talks with Lebanon”s leadership, officials said.
Miliband met with his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salukh and with parliament speaker Nabih Berri soon after his arrival in Beirut, the Lebanese officials said.
He is due on Monday to hold talks with newly elected President Michel Sleiman, who took office at the end of May.
Miliband”s trip comes on the heels of a brief visit to Beirut on Saturday by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who stressed his country”s support for Sleiman and urged Lebanese reconciliation through dialogue.
Lebanon has endured a tense 18-month political crisis that drove it to the brink of civil war in early May.
After 65 people were killed in sectarian violence, rival factions reached a deal in Doha on May 21 that led to the election of then army chief and consensus candidate Sleiman after a six-month vacuum in the presidency.
Sleiman himself said the "Doha agreement … has regenerated long-awaited and desired political stability."
Even so, the anti-Syrian ruling bloc, backed by the West and most Arab states, and the Hezbollah-led opposition continue to squabble over the formation of a new government.
Miliband arrives in Beirut
Foreign Secretary David Miliband arrived in Beirut late Sunday for a 24-hour visit during which he was to hold talks with Lebanon”s leadership, officials said.
Miliband met with his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salukh and with parliament speaker Nabih Berri soon after his arrival in Beirut, the Lebanese officials said.
He is due on Monday to hold talks with newly elected President Michel Sleiman, who took office at the end of May.
Miliband”s trip comes on the heels of a brief visit to Beirut on Saturday by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who stressed his country”s support for Sleiman and urged Lebanese reconciliation through dialogue.
Lebanon has endured a tense 18-month political crisis that drove it to the brink of civil war in early May.
After 65 people were killed in sectarian violence, rival factions reached a deal in Doha on May 21 that led to the election of then army chief and consensus candidate Sleiman after a six-month vacuum in the presidency.
Sleiman himself said the "Doha agreement … has regenerated long-awaited and desired political stability."
Even so, the anti-Syrian ruling bloc, backed by the West and most Arab states, and the Hezbollah-led opposition continue to squabble over the formation of a new government.