Lebanon's Prime Minister Rafik Hariri summoned the US ambassador to Beirut on Saturday over reports Congress was considering freezing the accounts and assets of Lebanese and Syrian officials in the United States in a bid to pressure both states.
Hariri expressed to Jeffrey Feltman "his concern and objections" to reports U.S. President George W. Bush has received from lawmakers proposals to freeze such accounts to secure compliance with a U.N. resolution calling for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, according to a statement from the prime minister's press office.
Following his meeting with Hariri, Feltman said the premier "had expressed concern about press reports of the proposal in Washington to impose financial sanctions" on Lebanese and Syrian officials, The AP quoted him as saying.
"I told the prime minister, at this point, it is an idea, a proposal. It wasn't yet law," Feltman said. (albawaba.com)
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