Situation in Lebanon – Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Speaks to Syrian counterpart by telephone – Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry press release/Non-UN document

Unofficial translation from Russian

PRESS RELEASE

Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov Speaks to Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Faruq Al-Shara by Telephone

On March 31, a telephone conversation between Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Syrian Arab Republic Faruq Al-Shara took place at the Syrian side's initiative.

Questions relating to the situation around Syria and Lebanon and the discussion in the Security Council of the report of the UN mission of inquiry into the circumstances of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri were touched upon.

Al-Shara briefed on the steps being taken by the Syrian leadership to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling inter alia for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Positively assessing these measures, Lavrov stressed that their implementation was called upon to help remove tension around Syria and within Lebanon. The Russian minister also noted the importance of holding an election for the Lebanese parliament within a constitutional timeframe and in a democratic and transparent atmosphere. This would contribute to the preservation of national harmony in Lebanon. Sergey Lavrov spoke for the international Hariri probe to be conducted in coordination with the Lebanese authorities, in the spirit of respect for the sovereignty of Lebanon and its legislation.

The ministers expressed satisfaction with the successful development of bilateral relations, and noted the great importance of the regular session of the Permanent Russian-Syrian Commission on Trade-and-Economic and Scientific-Technical Cooperation that is opening in Damascus on April 2, 2005.

April 1, 2005