Bolton: Bush to discuss nations, Lebanon

1 hour, 4 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS - Iranian and Syrian interference in Lebanon is a major U.S. concern and will be a subject of discussion during President Bush's trip to the Middle East later this week, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Monday.

While Bush's primary reason for flying to Amman, Jordan, is to meet Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to discuss stabilizing that war-torn country, his trip comes at a time of heightened tension between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in Lebanon following the assassination of a Christian Cabinet minister last week.

Lebanon's Cabinet headed by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sent the president a draft accord Monday to establish a tribunal to try the alleged killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. But President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian, is expected to decline to endorse the agreement, which would set up a U.N. backed court that would sit outside Lebanon.

The tribunal has become a weapon in the battle between Lebanon's Hezbollah-aligned factions ? supported by Syria and Lebanon ? and anti-Syrian parties over demands by Hezbollah and its allies for a third of the Cabinet's seats. That would give them veto powers.

"I think that the danger that the White House forecast of Iranian and Syrian interference in Lebanon forecast some weeks ago remains very much on our minds," Bolton told reporters.

"And I think it'll be the subject of discussions on the president's trip," he said. "Certainly when he goes to the region, this could well be a decisive point in Lebanon's history and hopefully its progress toward a freely elected and democratic government and a stable situation."

Bolton warned, however, that "if that's unsuccessful there, it will obviously have dramatically negative consequences for the region as a whole."

"So we're following it very carefully and want to do everything we can to support the democratically elected forces in the government of Lebanon," he said.

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