News / Middle East

Clinton Supports Lebanon Tribunal in Talks With Hariri

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri shakes hands with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York, 07 Jan 2011
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri shakes hands with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in New York, 07 Jan 2011
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Officials say U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has reassured Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the United States supports a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the death of his father.

Clinton offered her support Friday during a meeting with Mr. Hariri in New York.

Mr. Hariri is facing intense political pressure at home over the probe into the 2005 assassination of his father, the late prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

The Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah has urged the prime minister to denounce the tribunal, which is expected to indict Hezbollah members in the killing.

Clinton met earlier Friday with Saudi King Abdullah at a nearby hotel in New York where the Saudi king is recovering from back surgery.

A senior State Department official described the Friday night meeting with King Abdullah as "strictly a courtesy call".

Mr. Hariri is also expected to meet with the Saudi king, for the second time in 10 days, to discuss Saudi-Syrian efforts to ease tensions in Lebanon.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

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