By KUNA,
Brussels : President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering, also chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, embarks on a tour of Lebanon and Syria starting on Wednesday.
“I wish that this visit will reaffirm the political commitment of the European Parliament to peace in the Middle East and to the realisation of a comprehensive peace agreement, involving all the countries of the region,” he said in a statement here Tuesday.
The current re-launch of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, most notably with the creation of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris mid-July, is to be seen as a window of opportunity in that respect, he added.
During his 4-day visit to Lebanon, August 6-9, Poettering will meet President Michel Suleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora, and other ministers and deputies.
He will also meet the Christian Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir and representatives of the Lebanese civil societies. He is also expected to visit southern Lebanon to meet the UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) troops on the ground.
In Syria, August 9-12, Poettering will hold talks with President Bashar Al-Assad, Vice-President Farouk Al Sharaa, minister, and will visit the Syrian People’s Assembly, where he will meet parliamentarians and speaker Mahmoud Al-Abrash.
He will also meet the Grand Mufti of Syria, Sheikh Ahmad Badr Al-Din Hassoun, together with other religious dignitaries.
This visit to the Middle East is the second one by the President of the EU parliament to the region. In May 2007, Poettering visited Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan.