Security Council urges free and timely election of new Lebanese president

The United Nations Security Council today called for a free and timely presidential election in Lebanon, which was scheduled to be held this week but has been postponed until later next month.

In a statement read out to the press by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for this month, the 15-member body urged that the election be held “in conformity with the Lebanese constitutional norms and schedules and without any foreign interference.”

The Council also appealed for the election to be held in “an atmosphere free of violence, fear and intimidation, in particular against the representatives of the Lebanese people and institutions.”

Last week, the Council strongly condemned the killing of parliamentarian Antoine Ghanem in a car bomb attack in the capital, Beirut.

In today’s statement, the Council said it looks forward for “the Parliament to proceed, as appropriate, to the election of the President.”