Connelly Meets Suleiman, Calls on Rival Political Parties to Exercise 'Restraint'
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly voiced on Wednesday her country's hope that all parties will exercise restraint and respect for the country's security and stability.
Connelly briefed President Michel Suleiman after a meeting at the Baabda Palace that the U.S. and international community fear that Lebanon might slip into instability and any political vacuum.
She reiterated her country's support for the efforts exerted by Suleiman and political leaders to build “an effective government” and take the “necessary steps” after the bombing in Beirut's Ashrafiyeh district on Friday.
The bombing has raised fears about unrest in the country, which is divided between supporters and opponents of Assad, whose country supervised its small neighbor for nearly 30 years.
She stressed that the U.S. considers the assassination of Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau head Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan in the bombing, along with two others, is an “internal Lebanese matter.”
The U.S. “will not prejudge the outcomes of these efforts,” Connelly told Suleiman.
According to the statement issued by the U.S. embassy in Beirut, the two officials also discussed the bilateral ties between the two countries and the latest developments in the region.
The ambassador renewed the commitment of the United States to a stable, sovereign and independent Lebanon.
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