Lebanon s FM in Moscow for talks with counterpart

Moscow Nov 17 (IANS/AKI) Lebanon s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil was due on Friday to hold talks with Sergei Lavrov and afterwards to hold a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart Lebanese news agency Nna reported.

Bassil met Italy s Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano on Wednesday in Rome as part of a diplomatic tour of Europe s capitals for bilateral meetings on Lebanon s current political crisis.

The political crisis erupted on November 4 with the shock resignation of premier Saad Hariri in a broadcast message from Saudi Arabia.

In the message Hariri a Sunni Muslim with Saudi ties accused Iran of meddling in Lebanon and sowing "discord devastation and destruction" in the Middle East and claimed there was an assassination plot against him.

--IANS/AKI
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