Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Saturday the deployment of an American warship off the Lebanese coast was an attempt to undermine a solution to the country's current presidential deadlock. "The presence of the warship off the coast of Lebanon shows that the United States is striving to undermine all political solutions in the Lebanese crisis," Muallem told reporters flanked by Arab League chief Amr Mussa.
Washington said on Thursday it had sent the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole to waters off Lebanon. "The policies adopted by the US administration in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan is wrong. This show of force will not lead, as they pretend, to stability in the Middle East," Muallem said, according to AFP. He also accused Washington of sending the warship to signal its rejection of an Arab League plan to solve the Lebanese crisis.
"The United States cannot impose a solution of Lebanon... The solution in Lebanon will be within the framework of the Arab initiative, the efforts of Amr Mussa and understanding between the Lebanese people," Muallem said.
