Spanish FM Meets Miqati, Mansour, Urges National Unity Govt. in Syria

Spain backs the formation of a national unity government in Syria as a way out of the country's two-year conflict, its foreign minister said after talks in Beirut on Wednesday.

"The regime of (Syrian President) Bashar Assad has support, more or less, among the population, the Russians and the Iranians, and (can rely) on an army that functions," Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said at a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Adnan Mansour in Beirut.

"On the other side, there are Salafist organizations. The solution comes from negotiations intended to establish a transitional national unity government where representatives from all the communities are represented," he added.

Later on Wednesday, the Spanish minister held talks with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail, in the presence of Spanish Ambassador to Lebanon Milagros Hernando.

"Talks tackled bilateral ties between the two countries and the situation in Lebanon," said a statement released by Miqati's office.

Miqati thanked Spain for its "support for Lebanon and effective contribution to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).”

For his part, the Spanish FM reiterated his country's support for Lebanon and stressed the importance of boosting economic and commercial ties between the two countries.

In the evening, Garcia-Margallo inspected his country's UNIFIL contingent in the southern region of Marjeyoun, stressing that Spain will carry on with its mission within UNIFIL in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 between Israel and Hizbullah.