Rice: President, Elections not Priority Saniora is

Source: Al Manar TV, 14-04-2008
"What's wrong with keeping the situation in Lebanon as it is?"
This question, as simple as it may seem, was raised by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a meeting with foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
According to an Arabic diplomat who spoke to Lebanese daily As-Safir, Rice said that the absence of a president in Lebanon was not a problem, adding that her top priority was to keep the head of the unconstitutional government Fouad Saniora as head of the executive body.
"Our priority is to keep Fouad Saniora as head of the democratically elected government...and that he acts according to the powers granted to him and the president," the source, who visited Washington recently, quoted Rice as saying. "Even the issue of the next parliamentary elections (2009) is not a priority for us. We would welcome any formula that guarantees the extension of the current parliament's mandate," Rice added according to the source.
The source noted that Russian FM Sergei Lavrov asked Rice when he met her whether her comments represented US official stance. "This is my personal point of view and many in the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon back it," Rice replied, according to the source.
According to As-Safir, the well-informed source has said that there is a tendency to "neglect" the Lebanese political crisis and that the situation in Lebanon will continue as it is until after the presidential elections in the United States.