Posted on 12/09/2008 5:18:27 AM PST by SJackson
Former US president Jimmy Carter is scheduled to arrive in Beirut Tuesday for talks with Lebanese officials, and he has not ruled out a meeting with Hizbullah leaders as well.
News agencies said that Carter's accompanying delegation was already in Lebanon to set the stage for the former president's visit.
Asked whether this would include a meeting with Hizbullah, Carter's press secretary Deanna Congileo told CNSNews.com that his schedule had not been finalized.
"We are in contact with major parliamentary blocs, and we anticipate meeting with almost all," she was quoted as saying.
The Carter Center in Atlanta announced on Friday that the former president would visit both Syria and Lebanon this week. The center, which monitors elections around the world, is considering observing parliamentary elections in Lebanon scheduled for next spring, and the former president's visit aims to assess the situation.
"During his visit, President Carter will discuss recent developments in Lebanon and the Middle East with officials and representatives of major political blocs in parliament and civil society leaders," said center representative Hrair Balianion.
Carter last visited Damascus and met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in April, when he also held talks with Hamas political bureau head Khaled Mashaal, despite US and Israeli opposition.
Carter has written a new book on the Middle East with a title he hopes will not be as controversial as the last one, which was called, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Carter announced last Wednesday that We Can Bring Peace to the Holy Land will be published in January, just after the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama.
"I was going to call it, 'Yes, We Can.' My wife talked me out of it," Carter joked, toward the end of a panel discussion on human rights at The Carter Center. He offered no further details on the new text, to be published by Simon & Schuster.
As president, Carter brokered peace between Israel and Egypt.
But Jewish groups and some fellow Democrats slammed Carter for his 2006 book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, in which Carter argues that the primary obstacle to Middle East peace is "Israel's continued control and colonization of Palestinian land."
During the panel discussion at the conclusion of a two-day forum of international human rights activists, Carter said the "persecution of Palestinians" and lack of US commitment to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict remains one of the most volatile issues in the Muslim world.
He said when he took office in 1977, there had been four wars and Arab oil embargoes, and he saw a need to begin tackling Middle East peace in the first year of his administration. Those efforts led to the 1979 Camp David Accords.
Carter, 84, has been a prolific author since leaving the White House in 1981. His many best sellers include An Hour Before Daylight and Our Endangered Values.
Meanwhile, French President Nicholas Sarkozy said on Monday that it was imperative that Israel and Syria start direct talks now.
According to Sarkozy, this will not happen without Syrian President Bashar Assad, therefore he must not be isolated, Israel Radio reported.
Speaking in Paris at an event marking the 60th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Sarkozy added that he would never shake hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who called to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
Such things cannot be said after the Holocaust, and the people must consider who speaks in their name, said Sarkozy.
Well, without Carter there would be no Hizbollah in the first place.
Carter, the man who creates opportunities to undermine Israel and peace in the Middle East.
hehehe, hahaha, LOLOLOL, can't wait till you show up on Letterman to tell that one....what? they haven't called? I'm sure the MSM will cover this too
And just think, we now have Carter II about ready to assume the office of Commander in chief.
Forget Hillary, the False Messiah ought to make Jimmuh his Sec of State. The worst President of the 20th century with the worst tyrant of the 21st, what a great team !
Since Carter can no longer meet with the leader he helped create—Robert Mugabe, he must focus on creating the next Mugabe.
If that were something to crow about he wouldn't need to make the trip again now...
Marxists want to inflict their will on everyone else. Jimmah is no exception. He's what's influenced me to cut back on my peanut consumption...after seeing how a life with peanuts has affected him.
He’s kind of like the Pope, but just the opposite...
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
----------------------------
That’s our Jimmah, ever ready to play the fool dupe for any pariah of civilization.
But that's alright, Obama doesn't have a slot for agriculture secretary yet, and I bet the "distinguished former President" would actually take the slot just to get attention. Hell, the peanut farmer IS qualified the job. I'd support him for the post just for laughs. He can make history as the first former President to be demoted down to cabinet secretary, and be ranked "worst ever" in BOTH positions.
It is odd, like him or not he is respected by many around the world. At his age, he and his wife have their health, can travel in luxury anywhere in the world, yet he spends much of his time visiting tyrants.
Guess they wanted him to pick up the check in person this time.
Who’s funding these trips and do they think they’re getting their money’s worth? If the answer is Syria, Iran, Hizbo, Hamas, or Obama, then yeah, they’re getting their money’s worth.
Back in 1976, Jimmy Carter was just what America was looking for, "someone unlike Richard Nixon". In 32 years, he hasn't changed... The older Jimmy Carter gets, the more respect I have for Richard Nixon.
Perhaps the evil rag-headed ones will behead him on international television.
Maybe pigs will fly.
He must have gotten a new set of knee pads for his trip.
FUBAR Alert!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.