Kerry Urges Preventing Hizbullah from Determining Lebanon's Future and Mansour Slams 'Foreign Interventions'
The United States expressed on Monday its rejection of allowing Hizbullah to determine the future of Lebanon.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said at a press conference he held in Riyadh that his talks with Saudi officials discussed the importance of not allowing Hizbullah to dominate Lebanon.
"The party should not be allowed to determine the future of Lebanon,” Kerry said after meeting with his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal.
On Monday evening, caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour slammed Kerry's statement as foreign intervention, stressing that "only the Lebanese people" determine their country's future.
"Foreign dictations do not serve Lebanon's interests but they negatively affect its security," Mansour told al-Mayadeen television.
"The Lebanese determine their future, not foreign powers," he added.
Kerry also stressed at the press conference that Saudi Arabia is a “strategic and enduring ally of the United States.”
“We have strong relations with the Kingdom,” he stated, amid reports of Saudi anger over U.S. policy in the region, specifically regarding the Syrian crisis.
The U.S. top diplomat's visit to Saudi Arabia comes days before President Michel Suleiman is expected to hold talks in the kingdom.
Suleiman's anticipated visit was recently postponed for the second time, after it had been scheduled to take place at the end of September.
The president received a telephone call on Thursday from Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awadh Asiri and later FM al-Faisal, who informed him that Suleiman is always welcome in the kingdom and who apologized for the cancellation of the previous trip.
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