• Submitted by: manso
• Politics and Government
• 10 / 15 / 2010

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Lebanese President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday advocated the strengthening of relations with Iran in different sectors during talks he will hold with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ahmadinejad met with Sleiman in the Presidential Palace in Baabda, where he began his first official visit to this country since becoming president in 2005.

State television reported that both statesmen talked about the situation in Lebanon, the Palestinian-Israeli peace dialogue now at a standstill, and the settlement policy of the Zionist state in the occupied territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

They also sought ways to reinforce cooperation in the energy industry, in which Tehran offered to help Beirut to lessen the problems related to the shortage of electricity, another source pointed out.

The United States, Europe and Israel have criticized the Iranian president's visit, claiming that it represents a provocation and a threat to regional stability, but President Sleiman and other Lebanese politicians discredited such accusations and demanded respect for national sovereignty.

Source: PL