Lebanon PM denies warship request
Fouad Siniora said to have met US envoy over decision as opposition sees Gaza link.
US position
“There’s constant communications at various levels,” he said.
Your Views |
The US declined to say whether the decision to deploy the USS Cole was a show of force aimed at Syria, which it has accused of interfering in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s governing coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition have failed to reach a deal over the election of a new president.
Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, who is aligned with the opposition, has linked the deployment of the warships to Israel’s raids in Gaza Strip.
“This is a real threat, not merely a muscle-flexing.”
Berri also said that the US military move was designed to focus attention on Lebanon “in order to cover up the massacres being committed in Gaza.
“This [US] fleet comes to back Israel so that it can complete its plan,” he said
‘Gun boat diplomacy’
Seventeen US sailors were killed in October 2000 when the USS Cole was attacked off the coast of Yemen by al-Qaeda fighters.