Sison: It”s Appropriate that Lebanon Be Treated by Syria as an Equal
U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison said her country”s relations with Lebanon are growing, adding that Syria should treat Lebanon "as an equal, not as a client."
"The American-Lebanese relationship is a strong one. It”s robust, it”s growing and I have seen this relationship grow even in the time that I have been here," Sison told The Daily Star in an interview published Friday.
About the establishment of diplomatic relations between Beirut and Damascus, the U.S. diplomat said: "It is appropriate that Lebanon be treated by Syria as an equal, not as a client, but as a neighbor and an equal."
She described the setting up of ties as "a positive step." But said Damascus needs to delineate fully the Lebanese-Syrian border and to respect Lebanon”s sovereignty.
The ambassador told the English-language daily that many things have changed since she came to Lebanon in February.
"There”s a new president, the parliament is functioning, the electoral law has been passed and preparations are under way for the spring 2009 parliamentary elections," she said.
She told the newspaper the law passed by parliament is a Lebanese issue, adding that her country hopes "to see in Lebanon, as in anywhere else in the world, free, transparent elections."
Sison said the U.S. policy is to strengthen key institutions of the Lebanese state and "a pillar of that policy is the strengthening of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF)."
"The army program has grown over the last two years to around $410 million and the ISF assistance program in just the course of this year – and we only launched it in February – has gone up to $70 million, and that”s training and equipment," she said.
When asked if it was true that about half of the military funds pledged ($410 million) have been delivered, the U.S. diplomat said: "I”ll tell you a little about the U.S. equipment procurement pipeline. All of this amount has been contracted, for the $410 million. We”ve had a large quantity of that delivered. I would term the rest as in the pipeline … You will see, we will highlight continuing deliveries through this pipeline."
She described "a bit overblown" media reports that there has been some controversy in Washington over the type and size of military assistance and weapons to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
"What we are delivering is what (the LAF) has asked for. They identify the need," Sison told her interviewer.
Asked about warnings by some analysts about fighters coming across from Iraq to northern Lebanon, Sison said: "We feel that control of the borders is absolutely essential. I think that the LIBAT (Lebanon Independent Border Assessment Team) II report that you saw come out in August clearly indicated a path to be taken."