Bush Vetoes Berri's Bid for 1-Month Election Delay
The Bush administration has warned against delaying Lebanon's elections beyond the constitutional timeframe of May 31, saying Speaker Berri's bid for a one-month postponement could thrust Lebanon into a "dangerous path leading to a constitutional crisis," An Nahar reported on Wednesday.
The people of Lebanon and the entire international community want the elections because this is "the road to Lebanon's peace, wellbeing, prosperity and reactivation of its democratic institutions," An Nahar's Washington correspondent Hisham Milhem quoted a senior U.S. official as saying.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan also signaled that the Americans were keeping a close eye on parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in Lebanon by the end of next month.
"We want to make sure that Lebanon can move forward with free and fair elections without any outside interference," McClellan said in Texas, during a tour by President Bush to promote his domestic agenda.
The State Department had hailed Syria's troop pullout from Lebanon as a "historic" day for the Lebanese but stayed wary of Damascus' intention pending U.N. verification of the withdrawal.
Officials in Washington also ducked questions on whether the move would improve strained U.S.-Syrian relations and lead to the return of Washington's ambassador to Damascus, who was recalled for consultations in February.
"We think today is a historic day for Lebanon and its people," State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli told the daily briefing. "After almost three decades Syria has withdrawn its military forces from Lebanon."
He called the pullout "an important first step" towards compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 adopted last year, which ordered Syria to evacuate Lebanon.
But he added that Syria was also obliged to withdraw its intelligence officers and "I think there are some lingering concerns that not all Syrian intelligence assets are out of Lebanon."
The United Nations has sent a team of inspectors to Lebanon and Damascus, Ereli said, and "we await the report of this verification team to provide a considered judgment on whether the withdrawal is complete."
Despite repeated questioning, Ereli was unable to say whether the Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon would lead to an upswing in overall relations with Washington, which has slapped sanctions on Damascus.
"Everybody has asked in a different way where we're going to go with Syria as a result of this step. I can't tell you. I don't know," he said.
Asked when Ambassador Margaret Scobey would return to Syria, Ereli was also non-committal: "When we determine that our bilateral relationship can be helped and we can move things forward with a return, that's when we'll return."(Naharnet-AFP
The people of Lebanon and the entire international community want the elections because this is "the road to Lebanon's peace, wellbeing, prosperity and reactivation of its democratic institutions," An Nahar's Washington correspondent Hisham Milhem quoted a senior U.S. official as saying.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan also signaled that the Americans were keeping a close eye on parliamentary elections scheduled to be held in Lebanon by the end of next month.
"We want to make sure that Lebanon can move forward with free and fair elections without any outside interference," McClellan said in Texas, during a tour by President Bush to promote his domestic agenda.
The State Department had hailed Syria's troop pullout from Lebanon as a "historic" day for the Lebanese but stayed wary of Damascus' intention pending U.N. verification of the withdrawal.
Officials in Washington also ducked questions on whether the move would improve strained U.S.-Syrian relations and lead to the return of Washington's ambassador to Damascus, who was recalled for consultations in February.
"We think today is a historic day for Lebanon and its people," State Department Spokesman Adam Ereli told the daily briefing. "After almost three decades Syria has withdrawn its military forces from Lebanon."
He called the pullout "an important first step" towards compliance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 adopted last year, which ordered Syria to evacuate Lebanon.
But he added that Syria was also obliged to withdraw its intelligence officers and "I think there are some lingering concerns that not all Syrian intelligence assets are out of Lebanon."
The United Nations has sent a team of inspectors to Lebanon and Damascus, Ereli said, and "we await the report of this verification team to provide a considered judgment on whether the withdrawal is complete."
Despite repeated questioning, Ereli was unable to say whether the Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon would lead to an upswing in overall relations with Washington, which has slapped sanctions on Damascus.
"Everybody has asked in a different way where we're going to go with Syria as a result of this step. I can't tell you. I don't know," he said.
Asked when Ambassador Margaret Scobey would return to Syria, Ereli was also non-committal: "When we determine that our bilateral relationship can be helped and we can move things forward with a return, that's when we'll return."(Naharnet-AFP
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