Senior US official to visit Lebanon

Arabstoday has learned from well-informed sources, that a senior American official, who they refused to name, is to visit Lebanon. This visit will coincide with that of  Assistant Secretary of State for near eastern affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, to Beirut. However, Feltman’s visit will be in a separate framework, as he will be visiting the northern border with Syria near Wadi Khaled, where Lebanese TV cameraman Ali Shaaban of Al Jadeed, was killed in April. Sources said this visit is of special importance owing to the escalation in violence in Syria. Some consider it the beginning of a Western-American movement against the Syrian regime, particularly as the visitor is well-versed in Syrian and Lebanese politics and has visited Lebanon several times; the last of these visits was early last year. In this earlier visit, Feltman was accompanied by two US senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, who later submitted a report to the US President on the situation in Syria, in which they highlighted the need for US intervention in coordination with Turkey and Arab allies, to support the opposition in Syria.he tex