Clinton says worried over bid to destabilise Lebanon
AFP
ABU DHABI- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed concern Monday over attempts to "destabilise" Lebanon amid tensions there linked to a UN probe into the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.
"I'm deeply worried about the efforts to destabilise Lebanon," Clinton said in Abu Dhabi during the taping of a television talk show when asked by an interviewer about the political crisis in Lebanon and concerns of war.
"It's very important we look at how disastrous a war would be for everyone and it still is a fact there is no solution to the problems that beset the area through war," Clinton said.
For months Lebanon has been at a political impasse over reports the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is set to indict members of Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah party in connection with Hariri's assassination.
Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has warned it would not accept such an outcome and accuses The Hague-based STL of being part of a US-Israeli plot.
The group has been pressuring Western-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex-premier, to disavow the tribunal and has warned that Lebanon could be plunged into a full-blown crisis should any of its members be implicated by the STL.
Clinton met separately on Friday in New York with Saad Hariri and Saudi King Abdullah to discuss the growing tensions in Lebanon.
"I've also been working with the Saudis, and the French and the Egyptians, and others, to try to make sure we stabilise Lebanon and prevent any outside interest or anyone within Lebanon who is getting direction from outside interests from taking steps that will destabilise Lebanon and perhaps provoke conflict," Clinton said on Monday.
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