Spain and Lebanon Stress Problem of Palestinian Refugees
Madrid – Spain
and Lebanon on Tuesday reiterated their commitment to achieving peace in the Middle East, saying the solution needed to include the fate of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon.
The definitive solution to the situation in the Middle East had to include all the problems, including that of the refugees, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a joint press conference with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman in Madrid.
Suleiman, on his side, stressed the refugees’ ‘right of return’ to their region of origin. Lebanon has some 400,000 Palestinian refugees.
Spain will work with the US administration to relaunch a dialogue in the Middle East during its European Union presidency in the first half of 2010, Zapatero said.
He also promised to boost the Mediterranean as a region of progress and peaceful coexistence, while Suleiman stressed the importance of the Mediterranean Union initiative.
Spanish and Lebanese representatives signed an agreement on tourism cooperation, while Zapatero and Suleiman agreed to reopen a flight route linking Madrid with Beirut.
The two countries also expressed interest in eventual electricity cooperation, and agreed on establishing a stable mechanism for political consultations.
Suleiman’s three-day state visit is the first by a Lebanese president to Spain since 1957.
His Monday programme included visits to the senate, the Madrid city hall and a gala dinner hosted by King Juan Carlos.
Suleiman came to Spain after meeting Zapatero in Lebanon, where the Spanish premier visited Spanish UN troops during his Middle Eastern tour on Friday.
Spain has nearly 1,000 soldiers in Lebanon as part of the United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL).
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