U.S. Aid to Lebanon Hinges on Composition and Policies of New Cabinet
Vice President Joe Biden, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Lebanon in more than 25 years, said Friday Washington will evaluate its future assistance to Lebanon based on the policies of the new government to be set up after the June 7 parliamentary elections.
His remarks came during a joint press conference with President Michel Suleiman at Baabda Palace following a meeting between the two leaders.
Biden is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Lebanon in more than 25 years and the second from the Obama administration in about a month, following in the footsteps of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The attention underscores Washington”s concerns about a possible win by Hizbullah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group.
The White House said Biden”s visit was meant, "to reinforce the United States” support for an independent and sovereign Lebanon."
Biden is aslo to meet Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri during his lightning trip, U.S. and Lebanese officials said.
His visit, which comes on the heels of a trip to Kosovo, is aiming to "reinforce the United States” support for an independent and sovereign Lebanon," the White House said.
The June 7 vote pits the parliamentary March 14 coalition against the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance.
Hizbullah and its allies stand a good chance of winning the majority of seats in parliament.
Such a scenario would force the United States to rethink its strategy towards Lebanon, a deeply divided nation which has endured decades of wars, political crises and political assassinations.
Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, who held talks with French officials in Paris on Wednesday, was cautious about his expectations for the elections, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said.
Biden will be the first sitting U.S. vice president to visit the Mediterranean country since George Bush Senior came to Beirut in 1983 in the aftermath of the bombing of the U.S. marine barracks that killed 241 troops.
Biden and Suleiman will both make a statement after their meeting, and the top U.S. official will also make an announcement on military assistance to Lebanon with Defense Minister Elias Murr, the White House said.
Last month U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made a brief stop in Beirut, where she expressed Washington”s support for a "free, independent and sovereign" Lebanon and called for the election to be held without any intimidation or outside interference.
A senior State Department official traveling with her said at the time: "If Hizbullah wins (the June vote), we will have to look at the composition of the government, and particularly at the program, to evaluate … what we are going to do in Lebanon."
Hizbullah officials say they have received assurances that the West does not envisage imposing the same sort of boycott it slapped on the Palestinians when a Hamas-led government took power in Gaza after an election in January 2006.
U.S. President Barack Obama”s administration has also been making efforts to repair its relationship with the Muslim world, including Syria and Iran.
But it has sought to reassure its allies in Beirut that any rapprochement with Damascus, which dominated Lebanon for nearly three decades, would not be at their expense.
Simon Karam, Lebanon”s former ambassador to Washington, said the visits by Clinton and Biden could signal a shift in U.S. policy in Lebanon.
"I think the United States is hedging its bets on the eve of this new term in Lebanese political life and signaling strongly that they will be investing in state institutions first and among these institutions, in the president," he told AFP.
"There is a serious chance that the opposition will turn into the majority on the eve of the election, and the U.S. will in this case have to re-orient its engagement in Lebanon, and this visit could be one way for them to pave the way toward such a development," he added.