U.S. Embassy: Lebanon is Still a Priority, No U.S. Pressure on Miqati
It’s official! Lebanon is still a priority for the U.S. although President Barack Obama did not address the situation in the country in his “historic” speech on Thursday.
“The democratic changes in the region started in Lebanon in 2005,” U.S. embassy spokesman Ryan Gliha said about the Cedar Revolution that drove Syrian troops out of Lebanon in the aftermath of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Gliha was speaking to Naharnet and other media outlets during roundtable discussions at the embassy compound in Awkar about what he called Obama’s “historic” speech on the Middle East and North Africa.
The speech came on the eve of a visit to Lebanon by Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, which according to Gliha was a “coincidence.”
But Feltman is carrying a message to top Lebanese officials. The message includes explanation on how the U.S. is changing its policies in the region after the Arab Spring, said Gliha.
When asked about reports that the U.S. was meddling in the consultations aimed at forming the new government, the diplomat confirmed Premier-designate Najib Miqati’s remarks to An Nahar daily on Friday that Washington wasn’t interfering in his tasks.
“We deny any U.S. pressure on any side in Lebanon,” Gliha stressed. “U.S. involvement has no definition in Lebanon,” he quipped.
The spokesman reiterated that the Obama administration would deal with the upcoming government on the basis of its makeup, policy statement and its actions including its commitment to international resolutions.
“Lebanon is in need for a cabinet capable of implementing programs in the interest of its people,” said Gliha. He stressed, however, that “it’s normal that a change in any government would affect relations with the U.S.”
On alleged meddling in revolutions in the Arab world, he said the U.S. doesn’t have a “direct role” in the uprisings against the region’s dictatorships. “That’s the role of the people.”
The U.S. has a role in backing democratic change, which is the aim of Obama’s speech, he told the journalists. “Every time things change on the street, we should change our approach.”
However, changes in the street haven’t yet pushed the Obama administration into adopting air strikes as means to end the use of force by the Syrian regime against demonstrators.
“We interfered in Libya to end the carnage there,” said Gliha. “In Syria, we don’t have the same pressure point and there isn’t consensus among Arabs and within the U.N.” on adopting such an approach.
“So we adopted another approach by imposing sanctions on Syrian officials including President Bashar Assad,” he added.
“We will see,” he mocked when told that Damascus claims that it won’t be affected by the sanctions.
Gliha said, however, that Washington hasn’t yet decided on the next step if Assad fails to comply with Obama’s call to lead a transition to democracy “or get out of the way.”
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/6754 |