George Mitchell
Photo: AP
US Mideast envoy presses for Palestinian state
George Mitchell visits Lebanon, says President Obama committed to 'actively and aggressively seeking comprehensive peace in the Middle East'
President Barack Obama's special Mideast envoy said Friday that Washington supports the creation of a Palestinian state "as soon as possible."
George Mitchell also sought to reassure Lebanon that US Efforts toward a comprehensive peace in the Middle East – including reaching out to Syria and Iran - will not come at Lebanon's expense.
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"President Obama remains committed to actively and aggressively seeking comprehensive peace in the Middle East. This includes supporting the establishment of a Palestinian state as a homeland for the Palestinian people as soon as possible," Mitchell told reporters in Beirut.
Mitchell spoke after talks with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fuad Saniora in Lebanon, his latest stop on a Mideast tour that will also take him to Syria.
The tour follows the Obama administration's fresh efforts to revive the stalled peace process. It comes just a week after Obama's landmark speech to the Muslim world in Cairo in which he promised to work aggressively to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Obama specifically demanded Israel freeze all settlement construction on land Palestinians claim for their future state and endorse the concept of such a state - something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to do, leading to the most public US-Israel disagreement in a decade.
Mitchell is the first high-ranking US Official to visit Lebanon since the pro-Western coalition defeated the
Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Sunday's parliamentary elections.
Hizbullah's loss removed one potential obstacle to Obama's Mideast peace efforts. Hezbollah and its ally, the radical Palestinian group Hamas, are staunchly opposed to Israel. Mitchell also stressed that "there can be no lasting solution reached at Lebanon's expense."
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other US Officials have said before that Beirut does not have to fear that Washington's efforts to engage Damascus could hurt Lebanon.
