Kerry, Dodd hold talks with Lebanese leaders on political crisis

[babylonsister]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2006/12/18/kerry_dodd_hold_talks_with_lebanese_leaders_on_political_crisis/

Kerry, Dodd hold talks with Lebanese leaders on political crisis

By Hussein Dakroub, Associated Press Writer | December 18, 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon --U.S. senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd held talks Monday with Lebanese leaders on the country's deepening political crisis, a day before the two Democratic lawmakers head to neighboring Syria.

Kerry and Dodd met with U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora whose government is facing open-ended street protests staged by the Hezbollah-led opposition to pressure him into resigning.

The National News Agency said Saniora briefed the two senators on his government's efforts to deal with the crisis. It did not elaborate.

Saniora also told Kerry and Dodd about Lebanon's preparations to convene an international donors' conference scheduled in France next month with the aim of revitalizing the national economy following the devastating Hezbollah-Israel war last summer, the agency said.

The two senators also discussed the Lebanese crisis with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally. No details of their talks were disclosed and the two senators did not speak to reporters after their meetings.

Kerry, a Massachusetts lawmaker and a critic of President Bush's policies in Iraq, arrived here after visits to Egypt, Jordan and Iraq. Dodd, a Connecticut senator who is considering a run for U.S. president in 2008, also was in Iraq -- his third trip there since the war began. The two are due to visit Syria on Tuesday for talks with President Bashar Assad.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said these direct meetings are "absolutely essential."

"Sen. Kerry believes this is a time for statesmanship worthy of our troops' sacrifice, and it's no understatement to say the future of the Middle East hangs in the balance," he said.

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[Blaukraut]

1. Kerry and Dodd

are able to accomplish more in three days than Bush has managed in his entire six years in office. There is never a wrong time for diplomacy, and Kerry and his fellow Senators on this trip know this.

[babylonsister]

2. Yes, I think diplomacy is key and something this admin obviously

knows nothing about. I'm so glad these guys are over there; at least they're trying to do something!