| Qatari emir
holds talks with Assad DAMASCUS, March 2
(AFP) - Qatar's emir held talks in the Syrian capital on Wednesday with President Bashar
al-Assad, whose country is under pressure to pull its troops out of Lebanon, the official
news agency SANA said.
Assad and the emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani "discussed the latest
developments in the region and relations between their two countries", the agency
said, without elaborating.
It said their foreign ministers took part in the talks.
The brief visit by Sheikh Hamad came a day after he hailed the Lebanese people for forcing
the resignation of their Syrian-backed cabinet, but also praised the Beirut government for
stepping down.
"I think the Arab peoples salute (the fact) that the Lebanese people were able to
bring down a government, (but) also salute the government which agreed to fall in the
interest of the Lebanese people," he told reporters in Doha.
"Syria and Lebanon are neighborly states, and the situation in Lebanon is worrying
and painful ... I hope peace" will prevail, said Sheikh Hamad, whose state has good
relations with both countries.
Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karameh stepped down Monday following mass public protests
sparked by the assassination of his predecessor and architect of Lebanon's post-war
reconstruction, Rafiq Hariri.
The February 14 murder of Hariri in a Beirut bomb blast has been widely blamed on the
Lebanese regime and its Syrian backers, and the international community has since stepped
up pressure on Damascus to withdraw its troops. |
