US Ambassador to Lebanon Working Against Stability - Newspaper

The pro-government newspaper Al-Watan accused the US ambassador to Lebanon, Michele Sisson, of orchestrating a campaign against the forthcoming Syrian-Saudi summit.



In an unsigned October 4 article, the daily said that the US diplomat was also trying to prevent Lebanon from forming a national unity government.



Lebanese politicians have been trying unsuccessfully for months to create a government. Some accuse Syria of laying down obstacles to prevent the country from achieving political stability.



An unnamed Lebanese political source told the newspaper that the US wanted to maintain an unstable Lebanese political situation until it reached a compromise with Iran and Syria.



The daily also said that US officials were laying the groundwork for a final settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and so were trying to prevent the formation of a Lebanese government that would oppose this goal.



It added that Syria and Saudi Arabia were against the US plan.



The newspaper concluded that the formation of a Lebanese government depended on whether the leader of the parliamentary majority, Saad Hariri, would go along with the opening between Saudi Arabia and Syria or listen to “extremist elements” in the country working against stability.