Asia

Home page

Asia

U.S. urges political solution to Syrian crisis

05 June 2014 02:14 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday called on Iran, Russia and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militant group to make more efforts to end the ongoing crisis in Syria, stressing that the United States is working on a political solution to the crisis, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"The reverberations of the war on the people of Syria are clearly showing, and I call on Russia and Hezbollah to work on ceasing this work, and it is important to support the communities neighboring Syria," Kerry said at a press conference following his meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam.

Kerry stressed on the U.S. commitment to "Lebanon's security, stability, and sovereignty, as well as to supporting the Lebanese people."

The top U.S. diplomat admitted that "the repercussions of the war in Syria have spilled over into Lebanon." He announced that the United States has pledged 290 million U.S. dollars in humanitarian aid to the countries that are hosting Syrian refugees, noting that 51 million dollars will be earmarked to the refugees in Lebanon and the Lebanese community.

On the vacuum in the Lebanese presidency, Kerry hoped that "the Lebanese Parliament could elect a new president in the nearest time possible. The United States will remain a strong partner to Lebanon."

Former Lebanese President Michel Suleiman's term ended on May 25, but the parliament has failed to elect a new president after five consecutive sessions.

Lebanon's constitution says in case of a vacuum in the presidency, the government will take charge of the post.

Kerry said that vacuum would only complicate matters for Lebanon and the neighboring countries, underlining that the political situation might get tense between the Parliament and the government.