ISTANBUL (AFP) — Six countries and the Arab League on Saturday warned against outside interference in Lebanon's upcoming presidential elections in a statement clearly targeted at Syria.
The United States, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and the Arab League issued a declaration saying interference in Lebanon's political process was unacceptable.
Earlier on Saturday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a bilateral meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem.
"I spoke to him quite firmly about Lebanon. I made very clear that everybody was watching... that it was expected that Syria was going to adhere to its international obligation not to interfere," she said.
Rice, speaking to reporters travelling on with her to Tel Aviv, said she told Muallem that Damascus must "allow Lebanon to continue its constitutional process for the election of a president" without any "intimidation."
The joint statement was "going to be delivered to the Syrians on behalf of all of us," she said. "We had hoped that the Syrian was still around. We would have liked to deliver it in person."
Presidential elections in Lebanon have been twice deferred because of a lack of consensus over who should replace the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires on November 24.
Fears are running high in Beirut that the standoff between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps could lead to two rival governments, a grim reminder of the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war when two administrations battled it out.
The opposition has refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora since six pro-Syrian ministers quit in November last year.
Saturday's declaration was issued on the sidelines of a conference in Istanbul on Iraqi security attended by the foreign ministers and senior officials from Iraq, its neighbours, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the G8.
The United States and France seemed to be mixing pressure with diplomacy concerning Syria.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Muallem met on Friday, marking the first high-level contact between the two countries since the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
Syria was widely blamed for the murder but has denied any involvement.
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