Powell to come under more pressure in Beirut
Lebanon will tell the US Secretary of State that cross-border guerrilla attacks on Israeli forces are likely to continue, a senior official said shortly before Colin Powell’s arrival in Beirut today.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi accused Washington of being indifferent to the killing and suffering in the Palestinian territories and to the prospect of that conflict’s escalating into a regional war.
‘‘For the Americans, it is no problem if the region descends into chaos and destruction, sees mass massacres, mass annihilation, an Israeli holocaust against the Palestinians, Nazism, fascism, terrorism, detention camps, expulsions, killings, displacement of people, starving and depriving people of water,’’ Aridi told Lebanon’s Future television.
The United States is trying to broker a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and return the warring parties to the negotiating table.
Powell is due to arrive in Beirut and Damascus later today for talks with the Lebanese and Syrian governments on the recent flare-up in fighting along Lebanon’s border with Israel and Israeli-occupied Syria.
Powell is expected to ask the two governments to rein in Hezbollah guerrillas who have been attacking Israeli troops from south Lebanon on an almost daily basis for the past two weeks.
Aridi said there could be no solution to the fighting without recognition of Palestinian rights and a withdrawal from occupied Lebanese and Syrian land.
‘‘It is legitimate for these (Arab) countries to defend their rights, land, sovereignty, people, security, stability and future. We did that and we will continue. This is what I think Powell will be told,’’ he said.
Lebanon claims the Israeli-occupied Chebaa Farms, a tiny parcel of land on the edge of Syria’s Golan Heights, is its territory. Syria supports the claim.
However, the United Nations says Chebaa belongs to Syria and that Israeli troops completed their withdraw from Lebanon in 2000.
In Beirut, Powell is due to hold talks with President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri is about to visit Washington where he is scheduled to meet President George Bush on Wednesday.
From Lebanon, Powell is due to fly to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon and stations about 25,000 troops in its western neighbour.
