Fletcher Meets Salam, Miqati, Supports Formation of Consensual Government

British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher voiced on Tuesday to Prime Minister-designate Tammam Salam his “firm support” for the Lebanese state.

He also expressed his support for his efforts, alongside those of President Michel Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri, to form a consensual government.

“With regional challenges mounting, there is no higher priority than to put Lebanese interests first, to have the courage to coexist,” he remarked following meetings with Salam and caretaker Premier Najib Miqati.

Fletcher also thanked his “interlocutors for their condolences on the death of former UK PM Margaret Thatcher. As she made clear in her 1982 letter to President Elias Sarkis, Britain's iron-clad concern for Lebanon was to support stability and sovereignty.”

“That commitment remains as strong today,” added the ambassador.

Thatcher died following a stroke on Monday at the age of 87.

On Monday, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Pumbly met with Salam to express his hope that all parties in Lebanon “will continue to engage with him positively to ensure the early formation of a government to safeguard stability and to facilitate the conduct of parliamentary elections in accordance with the constitutional requirements.”

He stressed to the PM-designate “the readiness of the United Nations in Lebanon to work closely with him once a new government is formed.”

“What is important is the formation of the government and the conduct of the elections. This is a guarantee for stability and that is what is important,” stated Plumbly.