Syria agrees with France that rival Lebanese camps should decide on a compromise presidential candidate without outside interference, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told French envoys on Sunday.
Lebanon's presidential election has been delayed until Nov. 12 to allow time for pro- and anti-Syrian groups to find a compromise candidate to succeed pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires on Nov. 23.
Agreement on a new president is seen as vital to resolving Lebanon's most serious political crisis since the 1975 to 1990 civil war. It pits the Western-backed, anti-Syrian government against the opposition, led by pro-Syrian Hezbollah.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy's top aide Claude Gueant, the secretary general of the presidency, and national security adviser Jean-David Levitte met with Assad in Damascus, said presidential spokesman David Martinon.
"These talks took place as part of efforts led by France over the past several months to advance the search for a solution to Lebanon's current crisis," Martinon said.
"The discussions focused on Lebanon and need to urge the Lebanese to find a consensus candidate," the official news agency said after Assad met the envoys.
"The views matched that the Lebanese must be allowed to elect their president freely and without outside interference," the Syrian agency said.
HIGHEST RANKING
The two envoys were the highest ranking French officials to visit Syria since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik al-Hariri, which led to withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and more Western efforts to isolate the Damascus government.
Sarkozy's office said the visit followed months of French efforts to solve the Lebanon crisis and that elections must be held before Nov. 24, the day after Lahoud's term expires. Lebanon's president is chosen by parliament, not popular vote.
"The Lebanese must have the possibility to choose their next president freely, without external pressure or interference, in a peaceful way and in the strict respect of the Lebanese constitution," spokesman David Martinon said in a statement.
France, which occupied Lebanon and Syria from 1920 to 1946, has been one of the vocal Western critics of alleged Syrian meddling in Lebanon's affairs.
Syria denies the accusations and says stability in neighboring Lebanon is in its interest.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told Europe 1 radio on Sunday that France's relations with Syria would normalize if the presidential election in Lebanon this month takes place "in good fashion."
NORMALIZE
The French government largely froze ties with Syria after the Hariri assassination in Beirut. A UN investigation implicated both Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the killing. Damascus denies involvement.
Although Syria pulled its soldiers out of Lebanon after a 29-year presence, the Damascus government supports the main Lebanese opposition party Hezbollah, which fought a war with Israel last year.
Syria also maintains links with other political players, including parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
‘BODIES EVERYWHERE’: The incident occurred at a Filipino festival celebrating an anti-colonial leader, with the driver described as a ‘lone suspect’ known to police Canadian police arrested a man on Saturday after a car plowed into a street party in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, killing a number of people. Authorities said the incident happened shortly after 8pm in Vancouver’s Sunset on Fraser neighborhood as members of the Filipino community gathered to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day. The festival, which commemorates a Filipino anti-colonial leader from the 16th century, falls this year on the weekend before Canada’s election. A 30-year-old local man was arrested at the scene, Vancouver police wrote on X. The driver was a “lone suspect” known to police, a police spokesperson told journalists at the
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has unveiled a new naval destroyer, claiming it as a significant advancement toward his goal of expanding the operational range and preemptive strike capabilities of his nuclear-armed military, state media said yesterday. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Kim attended the launching ceremony for the 5,000-tonne warship on Friday at the western port of Nampo. Kim framed the arms buildup as a response to perceived threats from the US and its allies in Asia, who have been expanding joint military exercises amid rising tensions over the North’s nuclear program. He added that the acquisition
RSS