Spanish FM in Beirut Tuesday for Talks with Senior Officials

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margolo is due to arrive in Beirut on Tuesday eve for talks with senior Lebanese officials.

The FM will arrive in Lebanon via from Cyprus on the first stop of his regional tour, accompanied by a diplomatic delegation.

Garcia-Margolo is expected to hold talks with President Michel Suleiman.

According to An Nahar newspaper, the western official will address the conditions of Syrian refugees fleeing the turmoil in their country and his country's efforts to cover some of the expenses of hosting them in Lebanon.

The diplomat will also meet his counterpart caretaker FM Adnan Mansour.

Lebanon appealed in January for $180 million from Arab countries to help it meet the Syrian refugee influx.

The Lebanese government, which has promised to keep its border open to refugees, called in early December for 363 million dollars to cope with the influx.

The U.N. says more than 70,000 people have been killed in Syria's two-year conflict, which broke out after the army unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent, turning the uprising into a bloody insurgency.

The number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have soared to more than 400,000 the U.N.'s refugee body said in a recent report.

Garcia-Margolo will also tackle the tasks undertaken by United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, An Nahar reported.

Spain contributes with 701 peacekeeping troops affiliated in the UNIFIL, according to the U.N.'s website.