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Clinton begins visit to Lebanon US calls for 'fair' Lebanon poll
(about 3 hours later)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Beirut for talks with the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made a brief, unannounced visit to Beirut where she held talks with the president and foreign minister.
She will also visit the tomb of assassinated former PM Rafik Hariri, killed in a bomb attack in 2005. Mrs Clinton called for the upcoming general election on 7 June to be fair and free of outside interference.
It is Mrs Clinton's first ever visit to Lebanon and the well-travelled former First Lady and New York senator said she was anxious to see the country. She also laid a wreath on the tomb of former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
Mrs Clinton was in Baghdad on Saturday where she insisted the US was committed to supporting Iraq. His killing in 2005 was blamed on Syria and triggered massive demonstrations that led to an end of decades of Syrian control over Lebanon.
In Beirut she will hold talks with Lebanese leaders and lay a wreath on the tomb of Mr Hariri. It was a very short trip, her first trip ever to Lebanon, with a very powerful message.
His assassination, blamed by many on Damascus, triggered massive demonstrations which put an end to years of Syrian control over Lebanon. Mrs Clinton said Washington supported Lebanon's sovereignty and would never make a deal with Syria that would sell out Lebanon and the Lebanese people.
The protest movement was backed by the Bush administration. Resurgent Hezbollah
Mrs Clinton's short stop here comes at a sensitive time. Legislative elections are due in June and it is expected that Syria and its allies, like Hezbollah, will make a comeback in the polls. The Obama administration has started to engage with Damascus after several years of tense ties between Syria and the US.
The new US administration is worried about the growing power of Hezbollah but is keen not to be seen as interfering in the elections. A senior American official told the BBC that Washington was keen to assure the Lebanese that those discussions would not be at their expense.
Mrs Clinton is accompanied by the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, a former ambassador to Beirut. Syria is Lebanon's former power broker, but its allies in Beirut, including the militant group Hezbollah, are expected to regain more power in the upcoming polls.
It is a source of worry for Washington, which has made support for Lebanon's army a pillar of the cooperation between the two countries, since a pro-Western government came to power in 2005.
The US official said Washington would have to re-evaluate its military assistance to Lebanon, depending on the makeup of the next cabinet.
Mrs Clinton would not speculate about the outcome of the elections, but said Washington supported the forces of moderation.
The US secretary of state was accompanied by the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, a former ambassador to Beirut.