U.S. "muscle flexing" won't work in Lebanon: Syria

[cal04]

Source: Reuters

Syria on Saturday accused the United States of prolonging a crisis in Lebanon by deploying a warship off the country's coast and said that Washington could not impose a solution by "flexing its muscles."

In the first reaction by the Damascus government to Washington's announcement on Thursday of the deployment of the USS Cole, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said force was not the answer to Lebanon's political problems.

"We have been saying that the United States was obstructing the political solution in Lebanon and the existence of this ship affirms this," Moualem said after meeting Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League.

"Those Lebanese who are betting on the United States flexing its muscles will be disappointed. Washington cannot impose the solution it wants. The way out has to be based on a Lebanese consensus," Moualem told reporters.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080301/wl_nm/lebanon_usa_syria_dc

[Purveyor]

1. Russia too has a few ships in the region... eom

[Joanne98]

2. They just won't leave people alone!