Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Bill Burns is heading to Lebanon and Syria, amid growing tensions between Israel and Lebanon and the U.S. considering returning a U.S. ambassador to Damascus.
A former senior U.S. official aware of the trip described its purpose as "Iran, what else?" Among other issues, that includes U.S. pressure on Syria to stop supplying Lebanon's Hezbollah militia. Officials aware of Burns' travel didn't discuss his agenda, and his exact itinerary is unclear.
But the visit of the top career U.S. diplomat comes as Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri has said Israeli planes are crossing daily into Lebanon and described the threat of another Israeli-Lebanese war as escalating. "We hear a lot of Israeli threats day in and day out," Hariri said in an interview with the BBC ....."I think they're (Israelis) betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us," Hariri said. "There won't be a division in Lebanon. We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people."
Washington is also considering returning a U.S. ambassador to Syria. ... But the White House has not yet announced the Damascus ambassador nominee. One reason is the White House seeks to use such an announcement and the stepped up diplomatic engagement with Syria it would represent as a way to further signal Iran of its diplomatic isolation.
1 comment:
Lot's of luck getting 'real' Syrian cooperation.
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