German FM in Beirut Tuesday
Germany”s foreign minister left for Israel Sunday at the start of a two-day tour that will also take in Syria and Lebanon and is aimed at lending support to the new U.S. engagement in the region.
During his stop in Damascus Tuesday, Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to hold talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem and President Bashar al-Assad before meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and designated Prime Minister Saad Hariri in Beirut.
He will return to Berlin late Tuesday.
Steinmeier held talks in Jerusalem Monday with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and the leader of the opposition Kadima party, Tzipi Livni.
He also paid his respects at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and met representatives of the Palestinian Authority.
Steinmeier, who is also vice-chancellor and is challenging conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in a September general election, is on his 14th Middle East tour since taking office in November 2005 in a left-right government.
He aims to underline Germany”s desire to actively back U.S. President Barack Obama”s drive to kick start the dormant peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and enlist the support of regional neighbors.
"We have had new momentum in the Middle East peace process since the new government took office in Washington and support its fresh efforts to reach a two-state solution and a return to negotiations," a ministry spokesman, Andreas Peschke, told reporters Friday.
Germany sees the absence of violence surrounding the Lebanese elections on June 7 and improved relations between Lebanon and Syria as factors that present a "window of opportunity" that Europe must help to seize.
Peschke said Germany was pursuing a Middle East policy, in close consultations with its European partners and the United States, that moved away from "slogans" and focused on practical assistance on the ground.
Such steps include development assistance for the Palestinians and training for security forces in the territories to help prepare for eventual statehood.
Steinmeier faced criticism from the chancellery, the United States and France for earlier efforts to engage Syria.
But each has since softened its stance toward the country. The Obama administration has said it would send an ambassador back to Damascus after a four-year hiatus amid a region-wide drive to lay the groundwork for Middle East peace.