Via Friday-Lunch-Club
"Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman arrived in Beirut from Riyadh on Sunday and met with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt and other officials, NNA added. Feltman was in Riyadh and Cairo where he held a series of meetings with Saudi and Egyptian officials over the developments in Lebanon, and the Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts according to As Safir newspaper . Feltman told Al-Arabiya TV that “Hezbollah is trying to politicize the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).... “We do not know what the STL’s indictment is and we should not know its content,” the former US ambassador to Lebanon added... "
Finally, Feltman delivered a letter from President Obama to Michel Suleiman, who took time off from looking for his name in the Nobel Prize laureats, ... to no avail.
Posted by G, Z, or B at 10:41 AM
18/10/2010 The United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman was on Sunday in Lebanon on a sudden visit. He described the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as "a non-political, independent organization".
Feltman, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly, held talks with President Michel Suleiman in Amshit, the president's hometown.
Also he telephoned Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
Feltman said that, he delivered "a message from (U.S.) President Barack Obama (to Suleiman) that reaffirmed the steadfast support of the United States to the development of a sovereign, independent Lebanon, with strong and effective state institutions."
For his part, Suleiman asked Feltman to pass on his gratitude to Obama for the U.S. support, stressing the importance of preserving stability and national unity in Lebanon in addition to "foiling any attempt at planting the seeds of discord."
Before leaving the country, Feltman told reporters at the Beirut airport that the STL was "non-political, independent organization that was formed by an agreement between the United Nations and the Government of Lebanon in order to end the era of impunity for political assassinations in Lebanon."
"A strong, sovereign, and stable Lebanon is in the vital interests of the Lebanese people, the region, the United States and the international community, and we are concerned by any act that would undermine this sovereignty and stability," he said.
"President Obama firmly supports the work of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as does the rest of the international community," Feltman added.
"We believe that the Tribunal should be allowed to complete its work on its own timeline and without outside interference until those responsible for the assassinations of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others are brought to justice," he also said.
The state-run National News Agency reported that Feltman also held talks with Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat. However, in a phone interview with Al-Manar television, Jumblat declined to confirm or deny the news.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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