Annan meets Lebanese PM on legislative elections

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met here on Friday to discuss Lebanon's imminent parliamentary elections and the establishment of an international inquiry into the recent assassination of its former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Annan and Mikati also discussed the need to implement Security Council resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon and the disarmament of militias in Lebanon, a UN spokesman said in a statement.

The secretary-general commended Mikati for helping to ensure that the parliamentary elections, slated to begin on May 29, "will be held on schedule and in a free and credible manner," the statement said.

Mikati welcomed both UN electoral assistance and the deployment of electoral observers from the European Union, it added.

Last month the Security Council ordered the setting up of an independent international commission to look into the killing of Hariri and 20 other people during a massive explosion in Beirut in February. Annan is still searching for a candidate to head the commission.

Source: Xinhua