Syria accused the United States on Saturday of obstructing a solution to Lebanon's political crisis by deploying a warship off the Lebanese coast. In the first reaction by the Damascus government to Washington's announcement on Thursday of the deployment of the USS Cole, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said the United States would not be able to impose a solution by force.
"We have been saying that the United States was obstructing the political solution in Lebanon and the existence of this ship affirms this," Moualem told reporters. "Those Lebanese who are betting on the United States flexing its muscle will be disappointed. Washington cannot impose the solution it wants. The way out has to be based on a Lebanese consensus," Moualem said.
Moualem was referring to the pro-Western government and majority in parliament, which has been locked in a 15-month power struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition. Syria and Iran support the Shia movement.
A US defence official said the USS Cole, which was attacked by Islamist militants in the Yemeni port of Aden in 2000, would not be visible from the Lebanese coast but would stay "well over the horizon". They said the deployment was to signal US concern over Lebanon's political crisis, which Washington blames on what it describes as Syrian interference.
Syria said achieving political stability in Lebanon was in its national interest.