Shaffaf- Beirut:
The official schedule of Iran’s president visit to Lebanon has not been finalized yet, with question marks still hanging about his possible visit to the Fatima Gate, at Lebanon’s border with Israel or to the southern town of Marjayoun which overlooks Israeli territory.
Meanwhile Beirut sources say US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton, had a hard talk with President Michel Sleiman during their recent New York meeting. Mrs Clinton criticized President Sleiman’s declarations calling on the International Tribunal (for the Hariri assassination case) to “reestablish its credibility” (!). She went on to question the timing of Ahmadi Nejad’s visit and its aims. Clinton asked if Iran’s president had the intention to visit South Lebanon and the purpose of such a visit to a sensitive and volatile border area.
Mrs Clinton asked President Sleiman if it was usual for a foreign dignitary to make decisions on what regions he wanted to visit, in this case Lebanon’s volatile border area with Israel. Did President Sleiman, Clinton asked, have any guarantees that Ahmadinejad’s behavior and declarations would not amount to a deliberate provocation of the Israeli side and would not increase the military tension in the region.
Alluding to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s scheduled meetings with Hizbullah leaders,, Mrs Clintion mockingly asked if the Lebanese President would consider it convenient had President Obama decided to visit Lebanon in order to meet March 14 leaders at the Presidential Palace?
To conclude, US Secretary of State warned president Sleiman that Lebanon should not expect US support against Israeli reactions which could result from Ahmadinejad’s expected provocations.