Beirut, January 20: US Mideast envoy George Mitchell met with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday and reiterated Washington’s commitment to the stalled Middle East peace process and Lebanon’s independence.
“Senator Mitchell conveyed the commitment of President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which includes peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel and Syria, and Israel and Lebanon and the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the Arab states,” the US embassy in Lebanon said in a statement.
It added that the US envoy in his meeting with Prime Minister Hariri late yesterday confirmed that Washington would not support the full naturalisation as Lebanese citizens of an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon.
“Senator Mitchell reiterated that Lebanon would play a key role in the long-term effort to build lasting and comprehensive peace and stability in the Middle East region and that there would not be a lasting solution reached at Lebanon’s expense,” the statement said.
Mitchell was headed to Damascus following his meeting with Sleiman and was also due to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Mitchell’s latest Mideast tour comes less than a week after US President Barack Obama’s national security adviser James Jones held talks with Palestinian and Israeli leaders aimed at furthering US-led peace efforts.
–PTI