Word: siniora
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...relented on Siniora's refusal to allow U.N. peacekeeping troops to use force, and on his demand that a U.N. resolution call for Israel's withdrawal from the disputed Shebaa Farms territory, which he insists "is Lebanese land and they should withdraw from it. I cannot go and ask Hizballah to surrender their arms while my country is still occupied." He wants the U.S. to do more to pressure Israel to pull out, but so far Washington prefers not to add to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's burdens...
...Siniora did help persuade Hizballah to accept a cease-fire that required the Lebanese army to take control of southern Lebanon, Hizballah's main base of operations, for the first time in 30 years. Soon afterward, however, Hizballah plunged Lebanon into its December crisis by sending its supporters into the streets to demand more power. Though Siniora refuses to step down, he has shown flexibility. He has offered to expand the Cabinet to include more opposition figures, and to discuss limiting the scope of the U.N. investigation in light of Hizballah's fears that the tribunal might judge past acts...
Despite the obstacles, Siniora is optimistic about Lebanon's future as he stands on a balcony of the Sérail, with nary a protester in sight, looking out over Beirut below, the Mediterranean Sea to the west and Lebanon's snow-capped mountains to the east. "We have the benefit of past experience, which was a deadly experience," he says. "There is no other option for Lebanese but to understand that they have to live together." Perhaps his own combination of steely will and flexibility will show the way to that elusive goal...
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, a mild-mannered former banker, has scarcely had a moment's peace since he took up his office in the wake of the Cedar Revolution in 2005. Though the protests triggered by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri led to a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the country's troubles have continued unabated. Siniora had to endure last summer's devastating war in Lebanon between Israel and the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Shi'a Muslim Hizballah group. Soon after the hostilities ended, Hizballah and its allies staged massive protests demanding that Siniora's government...
...SINIORA: Go back in time about two years when the decision was made by the Syrians in order to extend the term of the president [Emile Lahoud] in spite of, let's say, the general conviction of the Lebanese that there shouldn't be any extension. Because this is contrary to the constitution. That led to further agitation in Lebanon that ultimately led to the assassination of [former Prime Minister] Rafiq Hariri. This created a tsunami in the country that led to the withdrawal of the Syrian troops...