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Spanish king visits Lebanon

Spanish king visits Lebanon

April 07, 2015 | 10:57 PM

Spain’s King Felipe VI meets with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam in Beirut yesterday.Spain’s King Felipe VI called for “peace and harmony” in Lebanon yesterday on a visit that will take him to the country’s troubled border where Israeli artillery killed a Spanish peacekeeper. The king’s first visit to Lebanon since he took the throne last June follows a joint Spanish-Israeli probe into the death in January of Corporal Javier Soria Toledo, 36. At the start of his two-day visit Felipe paid tribute to Soria and the 12 other Spanish servicemen killed over the years in Lebanon on peacekeeping duty. “Spain’s commitment to this (peacekeeping) aim is firm and decided,” Felipe said in a speech in Beirut, according to a text in Spanish released by the palace. “We will therefore continue to support the Lebanese armed forces through our participation in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).” After meeting with Lebanon’s Prime Minister Tammam Salam yesterday, Felipe today visits Spanish soldiers deployed with Unifil in the southern district of Marjayoun. Lebanon “has suffered a lot in its recent history and Spain wishes it a future of peace and harmony”, Felipe said. “I hope that the spirit of harmony of Lebanese people willing to handle the rich and sometimes difficult mosaic of differences that makes up this country will always prevail.”

April 07, 2015 | 10:57 PM