Lebanese president on official visit to Australia Beirut – George Shahin The Lebanese president, Michel Suleiman met Monday with the Australian prime minister Julia Gillard at an official luncheon held for the president and an accompanying delegation. The Lebanese president said that despite the geographical distance between Australia and Lebanon, both are strongly linked with their shared belief in the values of democracy and freedom, and the strict commitment to human rights.
The president also commended Australia’s support of "Lebanon and the Lebanese people", and shared [rinciples of "respect for human rights and rejection of injustice and extremism".
He added: "Australia has always supported Lebanon’s sovereignty, unity and always called for peaceful resolutions to conflicts. These steps, as well as Australia’s participation with the UN’s international forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), its support in demanding Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese land and its help in removing Israeli mines in southern Lebanon were all greatly appreciated."
Suleiman also said that Australia participates in peacekeeping operations in different regions of the world and has showed commitment to the goals of the UN MDGs and the enhancement of economic, social, health and environmental conditions of developing countries. He added that Lebanon expressed its support for a non-permanent seat for Australia in the Security Council for the period 2013 – 2014.
Suleiman said at a time when the Arab world was still seeking a way owards reform and democracy, there was an "urgent need for a fair and comprehensive resolution to all the aspects of conflict in the Middle East". He added that such a resolution needed political will and international determination to ensure commitment.
The president also expressed his regret for being the only Arab head of state who talked about Palestine and the Palestinian cause in the Arab League, saying: "Arabs seem to have forgotten about Palestine."
He also voiced his concern over the Syrian conflict spilling into Lebanon. “The fire in Syria might spread to Lebanon,” said the president.
 Suleiman added that the calls for democracy in Syria should be qualified by “non-violent choices and the acceptance of a positive, rather than a negative, international intervention,” and called on Arab countries to “extinguish the (Syrian) fire or at least to limit its spread.”
He added that Lebanon, which was able to keep its stability and avoid the repercussions of the financial crisis during the past years, looks forward to strengthen its bilateral relations with Australia, including increasing the volume of exports.
He also called the Arab countries to invest within the Arab states.
For her part, the Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that there is a long history of friendship and mutual cooperation between Australia and Lebanon, and that Australia looks forward to making these relationships "lofty as the cedars of Lebanon".
Gillard and Suleiman also discussed bilateral relations, especially regarding economic, commercial and cultural cooperation, as well as providing the necessary support for the work of the UNIFIL in Lebanon