U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman hoped on Wednesday that the conflict
in Syria would not reach Lebanon and criticized the region’s countries for “not
doing enough” to support the Syrian opposition.
Following talks with Premier Najib Miqati at the Grand Serail at
the end of his visit, Lieberman also praised the Lebanese government for its
assistance to Syrian refugees who have fled the violence in their country.
He also said that he understands the Lebanese government’s
decision to distance itself from the developments in neighboring Syria.
He added that nearly a year since the formation of the government,
Miqati has demonstrated that he is an independent figure in the Lebanese
political divide.
The Lebanese government is motivated by the need to provide
refugees with humanitarian assistance and remain vigilant to any individual
that may cause a problem in Lebanon, noted the U.S. senator.
The independent senator mostly caucuses with Democrats but he is
hawkish on national security and has advocated further U.S. intervention in
Syria, including the arming of Syrian opposition groups against Assad’s regime.
Earlier in the day, Lieberman visited at the head of a U.S.
delegation the Lebanese-Syrian border at the Bqayaa crossing of Wadi Khaled in
northern Lebanon.
During the two-hour tour, he met with several displaced Syrian
families at the residence of the former municipal chief of al-Moqaibleh in the
area of Bqayaa.
Liberman denied that talks addressed arms smuggling to Syria, but
he did relay to Miqati Syrian refugee assertions that members of the Free
Syrian Army were not hiding among them.
He also voiced their gratitude to the Lebanese government and
various organizations for their aid.
A U.S. Embassy statement said the U.S. senator also held a meeting
with President Michel Suleiman. He met with Progressive Socialist Party leader
Walid Jumblat along with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs Jeffrey Feltman on Tuesday.
“In his meetings, the senator discussed bilateral relations and
the situation in Syria,” the statement said.
Lieberman arrived in Beirut on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia where he
held talks with King Abdullah and other senior officials as part of a Middle
East tour to discuss the Syria crisis.
Throughout his talks, he urged the need to provide the Syrian
people and refugees with further assistance.
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