(AFP/Turkish Press) Vincent Battle, the U.S. ambassador to Beirut, told the Lebanese daily An-Nahar Monday that it "was time the Syrian army withdrew from Lebanon" so that the country "could enjoy total sovereignty." Walid Maalouf, a member of the U.S. delegation to the UN who is of Lebanese extraction, told An-Nahar Monday: "Lebanese foreign policy is subjected to that of Syria....We have been able to observe at the UN that Lebanese diplomats do not take the slightest initiative but simply wait for the orders of Syrian diplomats." Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), who headed a U.S. congressional delegation which met the Lebanese and Syrian presidents, said that more than 10 years after the end of the Lebanese civil war and with Israeli forces no longer present in Lebanon, Syrian troops should withdraw and the Lebanese be given control over their security.
2004-08-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive