Obama Hosts Lebanon’s Al-Hariri at White House

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri met with President Obama at the White House on Monday, the first visit by the Lebanese leader. In a statement issued after the meeting, the White House reported that the President raised the issue of Syrian arms shipments to Hizbullah being a clear violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah and prohibits any non-governmental organization from having weapons. It was not apparent from the statement whether President Obama also raised the issue of Lebanese cabinet and parliamentary approval for Hizbullah to retain its arsenal in direct contravention of Resolution 1701. In February, Al-Hariri said that if war broke out, Lebanon would back Hizbullah. Meanwhile, two days after Senator John Kerry visited Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad for the second time in three months, Al-Asad unloaded on President Obama in an interview with an Italian newspaper. Al-Asad told La Republicca that Obama has lost his influence in the Middle East, having “raised hopes” but having failed to accomplish anything. In recent statements to visiting diplomats, the Syrian president has been clear in demanding that the West become vocal and forceful in condemning Israel and accept what he calls Iran’s “civil nuclear program.”