U.S. Bans Syria from Selecting Lebanon's Next
President
The United States has given a strong
hint that it would ban Syria from selecting Lebanon's president and
would oppose a constitutional amendment that would allow Gen. Lahoud
from seeking a new term in office.
"We are watching what happens in
Syria. Syria should realize that it has to stay out of Lebanon's
presidential elections. It should not select Lebanon's next
president," Washington's new ambassador to Beirut Jeffrey
Feltman said.
There was no immediate reaction from the
governments in Lebanon and Syria. Feltman outlined his stance
against Syria's tutelage over Lebanon before the Foreign Relations
Committee of the U.S. Senate Wednesday, seeking Congressional
confirmation of his appointment, An Nahar reported Thursday.
"Our objective is that Lebanon
should remain free and sovereign, in peace with its neighbors and
liberated from Syrian and Iranian forces," Feltman said. He
asserted that the U.S. would stay neutral in the Lebanese
presidential elections in fall and has no favorite contender.
"I want to emphasize anew that the
United States believes the time has come for Syrian forces to depart
from Lebanon and for the Syrian government to respect Lebanon's full
sovereignty," Feltman added.
He said he would, if confirmed, work for
the expansion of the Lebanese government's political and security
presence in South Lebanon along the border with Israel.
