Monday Morning Weekly Magazine
Lebanon
April 5 2004

Hariri in Yerevan:`The constructive role of Lebanon’s Armenians’

Arriving in Yerevan last week for an official visit to Armenia,
Premier Hariri was welcomed by his Armenian counterpart, Andranki
Kargarian.
After a short pause in the VIP salon, the two men went to the prime
minister’s office for a private discussion, after which they were
joined by other officials, including ministers Fuad Saniora, Elias
Skaff, Ghazi Aridi, Marwan Hamadé and Samir Jisr.
Hariri then drove to the Parliament House for an address in which he
commended Lebanon’s Armenian community which, he said, `always
rejected participation in the civil war. On the contrary, they have
since the conflict contributed to the reconstruction of the country’.
He went on: `The Lebanese and Armenian parliaments have ratified
several agreements from which the private sector should benefit’.
On the regional situation, Hariri said, `The situation is certainly
complicated: it is explosive in Iraq and Israel’s occupation of the
Palestinian territories can degenerate at any moment. We call for
peace between the Arabs and Israel, and we believe this peace is
possible, on condition that Israel agrees to apply UN resolutions’.
On another subject, the prime minister stressed the importance of
Lebanon’s association agreement with the European Union, to the
extent that `it will highlight democratic practice and human rights
in Lebanon and will reinforce the independence of the judiciary in
such a way as to adapt our system to that of European countries’.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress