Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri held talks Friday with his Syrian counterpart, Mohammed Mustapha Miro, about boosting economic and other ties, officials said.
Hariri was accompanied on his one-day trip to Damascus by Finance Minister Fouad Siniora, Economy and Trade Minister Bassel Fleihan and Electricity and Water Resources Minister Mohamad Abdel Hamid Baydoun, they said.
His trip to Damascus, his second since his October 26 appointment as Prime Minister, comes amid a heated debate in Lebanon over the continued presence of 35,000 Syrian army troops in the country.
But Hariri's new government said in its program that the Syrian army presence in Lebanon was necessary, legal and temporary.
Hariri will then visit Saudi Arabia over the weekend before traveling to Morocco on Monday for a two-day trip, after which he will return to Lebanon to attend celebrations for independence day on November 22 -- DAMASCUS (AFP)
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