Friday, September 04, 2009

TOP UN ENVOY HOPES NEW LEBANESE GOVERNMENT FORMED SOON

New York, Sep 4 2009 1:11PM
The top United Nations envoy for Lebanon today voiced hope that the country's new Government will be formed soon, during talks in Beirut with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri.

"We went over the process of forming a new government and I expressed my hope that this will be accomplished soon, particularly since the government will have many social, economic and security challenges to face after it is formed," Michael Williams, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon, told reporters after the meeting.

In addition, he noted that Lebanon is expected to take a seat on the UN Security Council in early 2010 and it is important for it to be fully prepared under the guidance of a functioning government.

Mr. Williams said he also congratulated Mr. Hariri on the initiatives he has taken during the past ten weeks to engage all the parliamentary blocs in the discussions on forming the government and his commitment to continuing the dialogue with all relevant parties in that regard.

The two also discussed the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701, which helped to end the 2006 war between Hizbollah and Israel, as well as the situation in south Lebanon.

"I am pleased by the calm that prevails in the area and expressed the hope that the new government would renew Lebanon's commitment to the full implementation of that resolution," he stated.

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