By NNN-KUNA
Washington : The United States said the deployment of a US warship near the Lebanese waters were not related to the political feud in Lebanon, but rather meant to show US commitment to peace and security in the region.
“I would not specifically relate this to any kind of events in Lebanon or any place else,” State Department Spokesman Tom Casey Friday said in answer as to whether the decision to send the USS Cole was made over concern about stability in Lebanon.
He shrugged off reports as “unrelated” that the deployment of the naval ship was a message to Syria to what he said take its hand off Lebanon.
“Someone asked me whether the Syrians should take some kind of signal from this, and certainly I don’t think one should specifically relate these two issues,” he said.
He said the United States has long had military presence in the region and the presence of naval force near Lebanon was rather a US commitment to security and stability in the region as a whole.
But on Syria, Casey called on Syria to stop interfering in the political affairs of Lebanon.
“But we certainly would hope that after several years, the Syrians would have gotten the hint that not only the United States but the rest of the international community wants them to get out of the business of interfering in Lebanon’s political system and out of the business in blocking Lebanese aspirations for development of their democracy,” he said.
News of the United States sending the warship off Lebanon’s waters drew fear in the region that the United States preparing to deal with any situation that might arise should Lebanese political parties fail to choose a President.
Lebanon has been without a president since last November, with the West led by the United States blaming Syria as the main source of instability in the politically ailing Lebanon.