Friday, May 22, 2009

(Adds details of visit and quote)

BEIRUT (AFP)--U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Beirut Friday in a show of support for Lebanese independence two weeks before a crucial vote that could see Islamist group Hezbollah seize the majority in parliament.

Biden, the first sitting U.S. vice president to make an official visit to the country, will meet President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

Biden and Suleiman will both make a statement after their meeting, the White House said.

It said the vice president would also join Defense Minister Elias Murr in making an announcement on military aid to Lebanon.

U.S. military assistance has totaled more than $410 million since 2006 and includes aircraft, tanks, artillery and training.

It is unclear to what degree aid would continue under any new government led by a Hezbollah ally.

The Shiite militant party is branded a terrorist outfit by Washington.

Biden's visit, held amid tight security, comes after a similar trip last month by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who urged Lebanon to hold free and fair elections.

If Hezbollah and its allies win a majority in parliament, such a scenario would force the U.S. to rethink its approach towards Lebanon.

Washington has said that it will have no dealings with Hezbollah until the group renounces violence.

Hezbollah officials say they have received assurances that the West doesn't envisage imposing a boycott like the one it slapped on Hamas when the Islamic movement won the Palestinian parliamentary election in January 2006.

Analysts say that Biden and Clinton's visits, coming so near the elections, could be a sign that Washington is keen to boost Lebanon's president, who was elected by consensus last year and is considered a neutral figure.

"There is a serious chance that the opposition will turn into the majority (after) the election, and the U.S. will in this case have to reorient its engagement in Lebanon," Simon Karam, Lebanon's former ambassador to Washington told AFP. "And this visit could be one way for them to pave the way toward such a development."

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

22-05-09 0927GMT