BEIRUT (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon on Monday to bolster the troubled country's new president, as rival political leaders still struggle to form a new government.
Rice said she made the trip to "express the United States' support for Lebanese democracy, for Lebanese sovereignty."
Her visit, under tight security, comes amid continued bickering between the US-backed ruling bloc in parliament and the Hezbollah-led opposition, supported by Syria and Iran, over the formation of a new cabinet of national unity.
An Arab-brokered agreement sealed in Doha led to the May election of Michel Sleiman as president, putting an end to 18 months of political stalemate that brought the country to the brink of civil war.
Rice first met Sleiman and told him Washington was very supportive of his presidency and his government, describing him as a "very fine man."
She was also meeting Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, parliament speaker and opposition stalwart Nabih Berri and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri as well as other members of the ruling bloc.
"We support the democratically elected government of Lebanon, that is what we support," Rice said, brushing aside any suggestion of US interference in Lebanese politics.
But efforts by Siniora to form a new cabinet have hit snags as rival factions disagreed over who should head the key defence, interior, finance and foreign affairs ministries.
Siniora, a Sunni Muslim who was reappointed premier by Sleiman, said at the weekend that he hoped to make progress this week.
The Doha deal gave the opposition the power to veto key government decisions and wider representation in a new cabinet, with 11 seats to be allocated to the opposition, 16 to the majority and three to be appointed by Sleiman.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon, during a visit to Saudi Arabia, called on Sunday for the speedy formation of the government in Lebanon, where tensions remain high with sporadic clashes erupting between rival Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Rice, in Beirut after a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank, rejected claims that the Doha deal was a slap in the face for US policy in the Middle East as it gave Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition more say in the new government.
"Obviously in any (deal) there are compromises," she said. "But this was an agreement that I think serves the interest of the Lebanese people and since it serves the interest of the Lebanese people, it serves the interest of the United States."
Rice last visited Lebanon in July 2006 during the devastating war between Shiite Muslim Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel that left more than 1,300 people dead, most of them in Lebanon.
At the time, she earned widespread criticism in the Arab world and elsewhere for describing the conflict as "the birth pangs" of a new Middle East.
Asked whether she thought there was bad blood between the two countries, Rice said: "I don't think there is any bad blood between the US and Lebanon, quite the contrary. The US played a pivotal role in helping bring an end to the war in 2006."
Monday's visit comes amid a thaw in relations between France and Syria, the former powerbroker in Lebanon which retains a strong influence in the country despite pulling out its troops in 2005 after a three-decade presence.
Rice last week expressed some reservations about the rapprochement but at the weekend said she was confident that France would send the right message to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad when he visits Paris next month.
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