Rome Conference on the Situation in Lebanon

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, attended the Rome Conference on the situation in Lebanon on July 26. This meeting was co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema.

The half-day session was held at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was attended by the foreign ministers of some 20 countries. Egypt, France, Lebanon, Russia and the United Kingdom were among the attendants.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana also attended.

The meeting has grown out of the ad hoc Lebanon Core Group of nations and organizations, which was created last year to help Lebanon in its economic recovery following the withdrawal of Syrian forces and the subsequent elections. While not part of the original Core Group, Canada was invited to the Rome meeting and welcomed the opportunity to participate. "We [also] believe that the international community is wise to consider how it can support achieving an end to the violence and what steps may be needed to that end," Minister MacKay said.

Canada fully subscribes to the recent G8 Summit declaration that set out the steps the parties directly involved need to take to put an end to the violence.

In a recent statement, Ambassador John McNee, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, said, "The crisis in Lebanon has escalated at an alarming pace, and the greatest toll has been exacted upon innocent civilians in Lebanon and Israel. Hezbollah violated Israel’s sovereignty, unprovoked. Israel’s response to the abduction and killing of its soldiers was an exercise of its right to self-defense."