Jumblat Wants Army to be Lebanon”s “Sole Protector,” Rice Stresses Continued Support
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has urged the U.S. government to continue its support to the Lebanese army so that it becomes the country”s "sole protector," An Nahar daily reported Wednesday.
It quoted sources who took part in Tuesday”s talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her assistant for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch as saying Jumblat and MP Marwan Hamadeh urged the U.S. officials to increase their training and supply of weapons to the Lebanese army.
"I”m looking forward to listening to Mr. Jumblat as he tells me about the preparations for the (parliamentary) election," Rice said before meeting the Druze leader and Hamadeh.
Asked what she thought about British Foreign Secretary David Miliband”s comment in Syria that Damascus has played a positive role in Lebanon and Iraq lately, Rice said: "I think we are all very much following what is going on in Lebanon."
"We continue to support a democratic and sovereign and independent Lebanon, and everything that the United States is doing is to that cause. And anyone and any state that demonstrates its commitment to Lebanon”s sovereignty and independence should be welcomed to that cause," Rice added.
An Nahar said that the talks, which lasted 40 minutes, focused on the Lebanese national dialogue, the Shebaa Farms and the need to start the operations of the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri”s suspected assassins.
The two sides also discussed the Syrian-Israeli talks brokered by Turkey and the situation in the region, including Iran”s role in the Middle East.
According to the daily, Rice stressed that contacts between Washington and Damascus either under the Bush administration or under the term of newly-elected President Barack Obama stem from a strong conviction that the U.S. is not ready to trade Lebanon in return for better ties with Syria.
As Safir daily quoted State Department sources as saying the two sides also discussed U.S. support to Lebanon”s efforts to hold free and fair parliamentary elections in 2009.
Jumblat and Hamadeh have held talks with several U.S. officials and are expected to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley on Wednesday.