MINISTER FOR Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has praised the Obama administration’s approach to Middle East policy so far, telling Arab leaders the appointment of George Mitchell as US envoy to the region was a “positive” development.
“We see hope in the election of President Obama and his prioritisation of the Middle East issue and indeed the appointment of George Mitchell,” Mr Martin said during a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Fawzi Salloukh in Beirut yesterday.
Mr Martin, on his second visit to the Middle East since taking up the foreign affairs brief, discussed the Obama administration’s engagement with the region with senior Lebanese and Syrian government figures this week.
He noted the role Mr Mitchell played in the Northern Ireland peace process: “Mr Mitchell brought great patience, great intelligence and capability to the job of peacemaking in Ireland, and we are forever in debt to him for the very constructive . . . and neutral role he played.”
Mr Martin discussed issues such as the recent Gaza conflict and the fallout from the 2006 war in Lebanon, including the cluster munitions Israel scattered, during meetings with Lebanese president Michel Suleiman and prime minister Fouad Siniora.
The Lebanese foreign minister told Mr Martin how Lebanon appreciated the Irish Defence Forces’ involvement with UN peacekeeping missions in the country.