U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman stressed on Wednesday the need for Lebanon to continue its cooperation with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
He said after holding talks with Prime Minsiter Najib Miqati that he does not believe that Lebanon wants to wage a confrontation with the Arab and international communities.
Full StoryU.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman, who will arrive in Beirut on a two-day visit on Wednesday, is expected to hold talks with senior Lebanese officials over matters concerning the security and political situation in the country.
“Feltman will focus (in his talks) on the security and political situation in Lebanon and the regional situation especially in Syria,” a U.S. diplomatic source told As Safir newspaper on Tuesday.
Full StoryU.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman has said Washington has evidence that Tehran and its Lebanese ally Hizbullah are bolstering Syria’s Assad regime.
Speaking in Amman, Feltman told reporters that Syrian President Bashar Assad is pegging his ruling Alawite minority against other sects and implementing his "own prophesy, which is moving Syria into more chaos and a civil war."
Full StoryU.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman is expected to visit Lebanon next week where he will hold talks with a number of Lebanese officials on the latest regional developments.
Al-Joumhouriya newspaper reported on Saturday that he will stress the need for Lebanon to respect the international sanctions against Syria, warning against any Syrian attempts to avoid these sanctions.
Full StoryA week of deadly violence in the central Syrian city of Homs piled pressure on Arab foreign ministers gathering for an emergency meeting in Cairo Saturday to take action against Damascus for failing to honor an Arab League peace deal.
President Bashar Assad's regime agreed on November 2 to an Arab roadmap which called for the release of detainees, the withdrawal of the army from urban areas and free movement for observers and the media, as well as negotiations with the opposition.
Full StoryFrance has joined the United States in warning Lebanon that its failure to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would negatively impact French-Lebanese bilateral ties.
In an interview with pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat published on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said: “We ask the Lebanese government to allow the international tribunal to carry out its work and renew its mandate.”
Full StoryDuring talks with Premier Najib Miqati in London, British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday urged Lebanon to honor its international obligations concerning the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Cameron pressed Miqati on the “need for Lebanon to meet (its) international obligations on (the) Tribunal,” British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher said on his Twitter account after the two men’s meeting.
Full StoryHizbullah sources denied on Friday that it had received word that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon had received a memorandum from former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Marwan Dalal confirming Israel’s involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The sources told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency: “This is a new test of the STL’s credibility.”
Full StoryU.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman warned of “consequences” on the U.S.-Lebanese bilateral ties if Beirut refused to fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
Feltman told al-Arabiya satellite TV network that Washington will have to take harsh measures if the Lebanese failed to pay their share to the STL that is set to try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s suspected assassins.
Full StoryThe U.S. has sent a stern warning to Lebanon that “it will be hurt” if it doesn’t commit itself to a new U.N. Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Syria over its violent crackdown on protestors, Beirut dailies said.
Al-Liwaa newspaper on Tuesday quoted U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman as saying that if the Council imposes sanctions against Syria, “then Lebanon should commit to them and if it doesn’t it will be hurt.”
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