Report: Suleiman Could Meet with Obama in New York
President Michel Suleiman, who is traveling to New York this month, is expected to meet with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to discuss the Syrian crisis, al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Thursday.
The daily said that the issue was discussed by Suleiman and Secretary of State John Kerry during a telephone conversation they held on Wednesday.
Suleiman will head the official Lebanese delegation to New York to attend the General Assembly sessions and a meeting of an international support group for Lebanon.
Baabda Palace sources told An Nahar newspaper that Kerry telephoned Suleiman after the Lebanese president asked the ambassadors of major powers during a recent meeting to inform their governments about the need to distance Lebanon from the Syrian crisis.
Suleiman reiterated this stance during his talks with the new U.S. Ambassador, David Hale.
A presidential statement said Wednesday that Suleiman urged Kerry to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
He reiterated that he rejected the use of chemical weapons but stressed the importance of a U.N. Security Council role in holding accountable the officials who used them.
Obama has asked congressional leaders to postpone a vote on legislation he has been seeking to authorize the use of military force against Syria over a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on Aug. 21.
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