Lebanon PM to visit Iran amid political crisis

Nov 23, 2010 |

BEIRUT

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Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri will make his first official visit to Iran this weekend when he will meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other officials, a government official said on Tuesday.

The visit on Saturday and Sunday comes amid a tense political standoff between Hariri's pro-Western camp and the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah over a UN tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of Mr Hariri's father, ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is expected to implicate high-ranking Hezbollah officials in the murder but the party has warned against such a scenario, prompting fears of a sectarian conflict between Hariri's Sunni supporters and the Shiite Hezbollah.

Mr Hariri was killed in a massive seaside bombing that prompted international condemnation and forced Syria — also a supporter of Hezbollah — to withdraw its troops from Lebanon following a 29-year presence.

Mr Saad Hariri's trip to Iran comes a little over a month after Mr Ahmadinejad made a similar visit to Lebanon where he was given a hero's welcome by Hezbollah supporters.

The militant party fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 and is considered a proxy of Iran which provides it with military and financial support.

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