Carter to Ask Assad for Speedy Exchange of Embassies with Lebanon
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Thursday announced that he would encourage Syrian President Bashar Assad to speed up the setting up of diplomatic ties with Lebanon.
Carter, talking to reporters after meeting Premier Fouad Saniora, said he would visit Syria on Saturday for talks with Assad.
He said exchanging diplomatic ties "soon would be a major step forward along the march to achieve peace in the region."
He also expressed "hope" that Israel would soon withdraw from the Shebaa Farms and the Lebanese sector of the southern village of Ghadjar, saying "such step would encourage spread peace throughout the region."
Carter said he delivered a memo to Saniora and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud "offering our services in monitoring" the forthcoming parliamentary elections.