Turkey, Qatar and Syria to meet over Lebanon government crisis

Turkey, Qatar and Syria to meet over Lebanon government crisis

2011-01-17 07:31:40 GMT+7 (ICT)

ANKARA (BNO NEWS) - Leaders from Turkey, Syria and Qatar will attend a meeting in Damascus on Monday to seek a solution to the political crisis in Lebanon, Turkey's state news agency reported.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will meet Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, and Syrian President Bashar Assad to evaluate the situation in Lebanon. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu said he would cut short his visit to Iraq to attend the meeting.

Lebanon's government collapsed on Wednesday after eleven ministers affiliated with Hezbollah resigned to protest the U.N.-backed investigation of the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

Prime Minister Erdogan said on Friday at a meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Saad Hariri that the country cannot be allowed to be driven back to instability when its people haven't fully recovered from the 2006 destructions.

Erdogan said Turkey would work with Iran, Syria and Qatar to solve the crisis.

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