Hillary Clinton to Arrive in Lebanon Sunday on Surprise Visit
U.S. Secretary of State is expected to arrive in Lebanon Sunday in a surprise visit, during which she will hold talks with President Michel Suleiman and will lay a wreath on the grave of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, according to press reports.
Clinton landed in Baghdad on Saturday on an unannounced visit.
The Lebanese daily An Nahar said Sunday that American diplomats have declined to "confirm or deny" reports on Clinton”s visit to Lebanon.
However, informed sources told VDL radio that Clinton is expected to limit her talks to Suleiman in addition to visiting Hariri”s grave.
Clinton had voiced concerns over "a possible Hizbullah victory in the June legislative polls" and underlined the need for efforts to "boost the command of the current government."
In a testimony to the House appropriations committee, Clinton said recent arrests in Egypt of an alleged Hizbullah cell "served as a wake up" for the Egyptian authorities.
They are now aware of "the increasing alliance between Hizbullah and Hamas and their connection to organizations inside Egypt seeking to destabilize the government," she added.
The United States serves best its own interests by "supporting and funding" the Lebanese government, in which Hizbullah is a member in order to "prevent fundamentalism from making more infiltrations," Clinton said in Thursday”s session.
In seperate comments, Clinton said Saturday that she had sent two diplomats to Syria and was "heartened" by improved relations between that country and Lebanon.
"I sent two of our diplomats to Syria about six weeks ago. We”ve had members of Congress going to Syria," Clinton told Alhurra television. "We are heartened by the exchange of ambassadors between Lebanon and Syria."
But she said no decision had been made about naming a new ambassador to Damascus.
"We hope that Syria will play a constructive role in supporting democracy in Lebanon, but we haven”t made any further decisions," the secretary noted.
A U.S. congressional delegation made up of Stephen Lynch, a Democrat, and Republican Bob Inglis met with Syria”s President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month.
Clinton”s trip to Iraq, her fourth visit to the country but her first as America”s top diplomat, came amid a wave of violence that claimed the lives of at least 130 people in 48 hours.
She said the attacks would not derail the progress made since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
"They do not reflect any divergence from the security progress that has been made," Clinton said, referring to the flare-up of suicide bombings.
"They are certainly regrettable and horrible in terms of loss of life," Clinton, who flew in from Kuwait, said.
"But the reaction from Iraqi people and the Iraqi leaders was firm and united in rejecting that violence, and refusing to allow it to set Iraqi against Iraqi, which is obviously one of its intended goals."
Clinton pledged during the one-day visit that American support for Iraq would continue despite the planned drawdown of U.S. troops that will see them leave the country by the end of 2011.