Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad ‘Alawi arrives in Beirut on Sunday to meet top officials. This will be ‘Alawi’s second stop on his whistle-stop tour of Arab countries which began on July 23 in Syria.
Some Lebanese political parties and movements, which have close connections with Syria, have already announced they will not meet ‘Alawi. They have deemed him persona non grata, because he is a puppet of the United States, reported Al-Hurra TV.
‘Alawi began his tour in Damascus, where he met Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad, and Prime Minister Naji ‘Atari. Iraq and Syria agreed to establish a joint security committee to supervise border control. They also agreed to increase their economic cooperation, and reestablish their diplomatic ties.
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(Al-Mustaqbal)
During his meeting with ‘Alawi, ‘Atari said, “The withdrawal of the occupation forces from Iraq will help to a great extent in putting a stop to the anarchy and assassinations…and will lead to security in the region.”
While stating that the foreign forces are staying in Iraq in accordance with Iraqi wishes, and with a U.N. resolution to back them up, Iraqi PM ‘Alawi said he hopes all foreign military will be out of Iraq within a year and a half.