Kuwait, April 23: A ministerial meeting
of the so-called "Friends of Lebanon" was held here on the
sidelines of the third expanded ministerial conference of the
neighbouring countries of Iraq to discuss means to resolve
the political deadlock in Lebanon.
The informal meeting on yesterday was presided by French
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who said in his welcoming
address that the "Friends of Lebanon" supported the Arab
initiative on Lebanon and the efforts of Arab League
secretary-general Amr Moussa in this regard.
Among those attending were Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister Sheikh Dr Mohammad Sabah al-Salem
al-Sabah, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Saudi
Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, British foreign
secretary David Miliband.
This is the third time that the meeting of the group was
convened.
The Foreign Ministers of the participating countries
met in Istanbul, Turkey, in November 2007 on the sidelines of
the second expanded Iraq Neighbours' Conference and again in
December in Paris on the sidelines of the Palestinian Donors'
Conference.
The group includes the United States, UN, Britain,
France, Italy, Egypt, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab
Emirates, Qatar, Jordan, Russia and Kuwait.
The Lebanese presidency has been vacant since November
2007 when the term of the previous leader, Emile Lahoud,
expired. The election of the president was postponed again
yesterday morning pending an aspired conciliation among the
different political parties.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 00:00