LOC23:25
20:25 GMT
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 21 (KUNA) -- The US on Friday said the Security Council
should consider "additional measures" on those blocking the election of a
Lebanese President, mentioning Syria by name, with the aim to make them change
their stand.
"We believe the Council should be prepared to consider additional measures
to incentivize those who are blocking the election of the president to change
their stand," US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told the council in its monthly
private meeting on the situation in the Middle East.
In UN language this means "sanctions."
His statement came as the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri
Friday postponed, for the tenth time, until December 29th a session previously
scheduled for tomorrow Saturday to elect a president for the country.
"I want to underscore U.S. concerns that the Lebanese so far have been
unable to exercise their democratic right to elect a president. We urge the
minority within the opposition in Lebanon, who are blocking the elections, and
those outside Lebanon, particularly Syria, who support it, to cease their
demands to bring about an election via unconstitutional measures," Khalilzad
told the council in a statement distributed here.
"We also urge the Lebanese to elect quickly a new president, in accordance
with Lebanon's constitution and without pressure from external actors for a
deal comprising other elements of the government's formation," he said.
"I want to make clear, however, that until such time as a new president
takes office, the United States has full confidence in, and fully supports,
the legitimate Lebanese Government in managing the affairs of the state and
the Lebanese Armed Forces in continuing to provide security," he added.
U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday warned Damascus against
interfering in the Lebanese political crisis, saying his patience with its
President Bashar al-Assad had run out. (end)
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