Mikati in New York, Oil, Finance, Diplomacy at Top

Zeinab Essa

There.... where the Christ walked was the beginning and Qana girl's wedding wrote the endless novel.

There... where the land's fragrance sent peace messages from Ahmad Kassir to al-Quds that turned to love songs to which orange buds, earth's olives and angels of heaven bowed.

There... where the blood wrote the myth of victory, the mosque's crescent greeted the church's bell and both mingled playing the most beautiful symphony of pride and love.

From there, from the heart of the South, the Maronite Patriarch received an unprecedented welcoming.

Rai in the Heart of South

With heavy symbolism and enthusiastic receptions the Maronite Patriarch Bshara Rai crisscrossed the South.

Rai's second day in the south began in Hasbaya where he was welcomed by Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abu Faour, Minister of State Marwan Kheireddine, MP Talal Arslan and "Loyalty to Resistance Bloc" MPs.
 

Addressing the crowd, Rai said: "I see in front of me a symbol of Lebanon. All its spiritual families are here ... How beautiful is Lebanon. We renew here our commitment to preserve our various Lebanese communities."

Noting that his three-day visit reinforced his call for "love and partnership," Rai renewed his call for national dialogue.

The Maronite Patriarch visited Nabatiyeh where he was greeted by head of "Loyalty to the Resistance bloc" MP Mohammad Raad.

Welcoming Rai, Raad said that "Hizbullah is honored by Rai's statements, directness and keenness on the partnership between the Lebanese people."

"We do not need to remind people of the sufferings of the people in the south of Lebanon since 1948...we faced injustice and tyranny. The enemy burnt our homes and killed our people, but we triumphed and defeated the occupation... and now we are extending our hands to our partners in the nation," he added.

"We have faced occupation and division, but we reached the formula of the unity of "resistance, army and people" so we can defeat our enemy's goals," Raad stressed.

In return, Rai praised the resistance's role in facing "Israeli" aggressions.

"We must remain vigilant because we are facing the dangers of partition and dismemberment in the region," Rai said.
 

"Lebanon is a land where religions and culture converge. Thank you for opening your hearts to us. I thank your love and confidence," he noted.
 

During a stop Sunday evening in Bint Jbeil, Rai said the visit had made him feel as if he was not the patriarch of the Maronites but of all Lebanese, "which confirms that the Lebanese are open-minded and love coexistence."
 

For his part, MP Hassan Fadlallah emphasized that "at the border of this land, we defeated the "Israeli" enemy as well as the project of region's fragmentation that Patriarch Rai expressed fear of."

Mikati in New York

Moving to New York, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived Sunday for a several-day visit during which he would chair Security Council meetings and hold talks with top UN officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki moon.

Mikati is scheduled to hold separate talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Declaring that he planned to meet with the world's most influential officials in a bid to garner significant support for Lebanon, Mikati pointed out that "he is seeking to protect Lebanon and strengthen its position and role in the international arena, in addition to fortifying its domestic front and addressing all local issues in a calm manner."

As Lebanon holds the rotating presidency of the Security Council for the month of September, Mikati will chair Tuesday sessions where he is expected to address the current developments in the region.

Ban Discusses Oil with Suleiman

In the same context, a UN source informed "an-Nahar" daily that UN chief Ban Ki moon has expressed concern during his meeting with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman over Lebanese accusations about "Israel's" encroachment on Lebanese waters.

Saying that any unilateral action would harm all countries in the region, Ban told President Suleiman that the UN can play a role in the delineation of Lebanon's maritime borders under a Security Council resolution.

"An-Nahar" reported that Suleiman and Ban discussed Lebanon's Exclusive Economic Zone as well as UN's role in preventing "Israel" from infringing on 870 kilometers of Lebanese waters that include oil and gas fields.

Reiterating to the Lebanese president that the country should begin investing its natural resources in undisputed waters on condition that "Israel" does not drill for gas and oil in the controversial 870-kilometer area, Ki-Moon called "for a diplomatic effort to convince "Israel" to review the geographic coordinates that it submitted to the UN concerning the northern part of the waters it claims."

Safadi: US Interested in Syrian Deposits, IMF Relieved

For its part, "as-Safir" Lebanese daily reported that during his visit to Washington, Lebanese Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi sent a message to senior officials that the current Lebanese government isn't controlled by Hizbullah and will never be Hizbullah's government."
 

Safadi's position came during his meeting with US Assistant Secretary for International Finance Charles Collyns that was attended by Central Bank governor Riyad Salameh.

"As-Safir" has learned that the US Treasury Department has inquired about Syrian deposits in Lebanese banks with Safadi and Salameh without a formal US request for any particular action.

The US Treasury Department was also interested in knowing how the Lebanese government planned to finance the electricity plan.

Meanwhile, sources from the International Monetary Fund expressed relief to "as-Safir" at the near release of the Lebanese state budget and the transparency that the government is adopting concerning the financial issues.

The Finance Minister discussed during meetings with senior officials the ministerial plan to provide citizens with health care and constructing a railway network.

"As-Safir" mentioned that Safadi discussed with the officials the projects undertaken by the Lebanese government.

Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org