Solana in Beirut Next Week
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana makes a four-day trip to the Middle East, including Lebanon, next week as part of renewed international efforts to try to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, his office said Friday.
Solana, the 27-nation bloc”s top diplomatic representative, will hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Sunday, a statement said.
The following day he will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as President Shimon Peres and the Jewish state”s foreign and defense ministers.
On Tuesday, Solana will travel to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, as well as EU officials working in the occupied territories.
He then moves on to Beirut, for meetings with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and his designated successor Saad Hariri, as well as Speaker Nabih Berri.
His tour ends in Cairo Wednesday with talks with President Hosni Mubarak.