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Syria calls for unity government in Lebanon
26 Jan 2007 21:31:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Syria on Friday renewed its call for Lebanon to form a unity government and said foreign interference was damaging the administration of embattled Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Lebanon, which suffered a civil war in 1975-90, has long been the target of Syrian influence.

Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal, in an interview with Reuters on the last stop of a South American tour, urged the U.S.-backed government of Siniora to find ways to work with the Hezbollah-led opposition.

"Syria wants to see the full unity of all Lebanese factions -- political and spiritual -- in a national unity government," he said, speaking in the Syrian embassy in Buenos Aires.

Bilal said the political situation in Lebanon was being hurt by "a lot of ambassadors (in Beirut) who are not working in favor of the Lebanese people."

Asked about the U.S. role in Lebanon, he said: "Everyone in the world knows who interferes in Lebanese affairs, is working daily against Lebanese unity, dialogue and consensus."

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush is working to bolster Siniora's government by helping him politically and militarily.

On Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was concerned that "irresponsible" forces were working to undermine Siniora's government.

The White House warned in November that Syria and Iran, acting through the Hezbollah group of Shi'ite Muslim militants, might be on the verge of an attempted coup in Lebanon.

Asked what steps the Siniora government could take to help end the crisis, Bilal said: "They have to listen to the voice of their own people, the millions of Lebanese people who are in the streets asking for national unity and for consensus."

In Beirut on Friday, Hezbollah supporters appealed for unity among Lebanon's factions at a funeral for a student shot during clashes on Thursday between government loyalists and Hezbollah followers that killed four people.
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Argentine army officer Jose Manuel Devoto takes images of flooded land during an aerial patrol near Trinidad, Beni, some 400 km (248 miles) northeast of La Paz, February 26, 2007. Argentina has lend Bolivia five helicopters to help deliver aid to flood victims in remote areas. Some 45 percent of the northeastern Beni region, which is roughly the size of the United kingdom is underwater.