Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri headed Saturday to Damascus to talk with Syrian officials about the Middle East peace process and the U.S. ban on travel to Lebanon. Hariri was scheduled to meet with Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam during a 24-hour visit, officials said.
The meeting was expected to focus on the latest developments in the peace process as well as a U.S.-Lebanon security committee formed to discuss the possible end of the travel embargo. The security committee is scheduled to meet later this month in Washington to discuss ways to lift the embargo and resume flights between the two countries. The travel ban was imposed in 1985 by then-President Ronald Reagan after a wave of kidnappings, killings and bombings that targeted U.S. citizens and U.S. interests in Lebanon. The committee was formed to study security measures at Beirut International Airport, risks to U.S. citizens and U.S. interests in Lebanon and security in Lebanon.
