(As appeared in the New York Sun)

WASHINGTON — Lebanese-Americans are criticizing President Bush for meeting yesterday with the prime minister of Syrian-occupied Lebanon, Rafik Hariri.

Mr.. Hariri met with Mr.. Bush in what White House spokesman Scott McClellan described as a "positive, constructive meeting" in advance of the so-called "Paris II" meeting reportedly being held later this week at the French capital.

That meeting, convened by President Chirac, is being held to discuss an international financial aid package to rescue the Lebanese economy. But critics say the free world should not bail out the Syrian-occupied nation until it is liberated and cracks down on terrorist organizations like Hezbollah, the Syrian- and Iranian-financed group that the Lebanese regime calls a "resistance group."

The president of the United States Committee for a Free Lebanon, Ziad Abdelnour, said Mr. Bush’s cozying up to Lebanon is part of a ploy to stay on good terms with Syria, a U.N. Security Council member nation that supported the resolution on Iraq November 8.

"This is a complete game that is being played for the world," Mr. Abdelnour told The New York Sun. "In order to appease people, we are basically going to provide some band-aid for Lebanon...We are still playing into Syria’s hands."

The president of New England Americans for Lebanon, Joseph Hitti, was equally critical, telling the Sun no investors will put their money in Lebanon until Syria withdraws.

"All the money he [Hariri] is asking for is a waste. You cannot create conditions for a free-market economy, such as existed before the Syrians took over, in the absence of freedom and justice.The Syrians are siphoning a lot of money out of the Lebanese economy," Mr. Hitti said.

Lebanon, its economy crippled with a national debt of more than $30 billion, is looking for a $5 billion bailout from the international community at the Paris II meeting.

Mr. McClellan said Mr. Bush emphasized the importance of Lebanon working with the International Monetary Fund and that they discussed the Middle East peace process.

Mr. Hariri’s Web site said that he received "assurances from President George Bush the United States would do all it can to support the Paris II meeting" and that Mr. Bush said "he will make high level political contacts with participating countries to show the importance the U.S. attaches to the success of the meeting...."

Mr. Abdelnour said the western world continues to ignore the plight of the Lebanese people, which has been under Syrian occupation since 1976.

"The people of Lebanon hate the Syrians...anyone who tries to say anything is eliminated.... The people in the west don’t see the killings or the human rights abuses, because it’s taboo. Nobody wants to rock the boat," Mr. Abdelnour said.

The executive director of the Lebanese Foundation for Peace, Nagi Najjar, said the French government is worried about the future of the Middle East.

"The French are worried about the U.S. plans to reshape the Middle East, and they are worried about their position. If the U.S. defeats Saddam and gets a pro-U.S. government, French and Germans will lose their contracts there," Mr. Najjar said.

© Copyright 1997-2004 United States Committee For A Free Lebanon. All rights reserved.

Would you like to comment on this article?