Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud said Friday he will hold talks Saturday in Damascus with his Syrian counterpart Faruq al-Shara on the Palestinian uprising and bilateral relations.
Hammud, on his first trip abroad since the new government was formed last week, told reporters that the talks will focus on "bilateral ties and developments related to the Palestinian uprising" against Israel.
Syria is the main power broker in Lebanon, where it has 35,000 troops stationed.
An official told AFP the meeting will also tackle a report by UN chief Kofi Annan in which he renewed Thursday an appeal to Lebanon to deploy army troops along its border with Israel to prevent "dangerous provocations"
Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri was quick to reiterate Lebanon's refusal to deploy the army because the Jewish state still occupied Arab lands and detains Lebanese in its jails.
Hammud also said he asked Lebanon's ambassador to the UN, Salim Tadmuri, to submit to Annan a letter listing all "Israeli air, sea and ground violations against Lebanon" since the May 24 Israeli troop pullout from southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese foreign minister requested that the letter be "distributed as an official document to the Security Council."
Hammud and Shara were also due to discuss the November 9 meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference meant to prepare for an OIC conference later this month -- BEIRUT (AFP)
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