Lebanese ex premier: Middle East peace prospects at a 'dead end'

Madrid - Former Lebanese prime minister and military commander Michel Aoun said Monday he did not expect Israelis and Palestinians to achieve peace "in the short or middle term."

"We are in a dead end, because Israel does not listen," Aoun said ahead of a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, whose country holds the rotating European Union presidency, during a visit to Madrid.

Aoun nevertheless described the attitude of US President Barack Obama as "apparently favorable" to reviving the peace process.

Aoun said he did not know whether Syria had supplied the Shiite militant group Hezbollah with Scud missiles, but added that the group had the right to acquire such weapons.

Hezbollah could not disarm while Israel continued its "policy of aggression," Aoun charged.

Aoun was due to discuss the Middle East situation with Moratinos, who is a former European envoy to the region.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/319463,lebanese-ex-premier-middle-east-peace-prospects-at-a-dead-end.html.