Kerry: Washington eager to elect new president in Lebanon

US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed his country’s desire to see a new president installed in Lebanon following an eight-month presidential vacuum.

Kerry’s comments came during a joint press conference held yesterday with former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri ahead of a closed-door meeting between the two sides.

“We’re particularly, here in the United States, committed to Lebanon’s stability and security. We’re anxious to see the presidency ultimately filled and to try to see the effects of ISIS and [Jabhat Al-] Nusra and Syria moved away from Lebanon so that Lebanon can really have its sovereignty respected and its future protected and guaranteed,” Kerry said.

He stressed that the United States is opposed to “any entities such as Hezbollah and others using locations and places in Lebanon and nearby as pawns in this struggle,” and called on ” Iran and the Assad regime and others to respect the integrity of Lebanon, and permit it and its people to be able to find the peace and the stability that they have longed for so long.”

Kerry went on to affirm that his country will continue to “support the Lebanese Armed Forces and the forces of moderation and those who want to work together peacefully to provide the future that the people of Lebanon deserve.”

On his part, Hariri affirmed that the effect of Hezbollah in Lebanon and a number of other Arab countries “is extremely dangerous”, noting that although “Iran is a good country that we all have to deal with”, the Lebanese people do not have a desire for external “interfering” in their affairs.

“Lebanon is living a very difficult time. The region also is in a very, very dangerous time also,” he added.

Hariri arrived in Washington on Tuesday to meet a number of US officials on a one-week visit.