Spanish king concludes visit to Lebanon by inspecting UNIFIL

Feb 9, 2010, 16:28 GMT

Beirut - King Juan Carlos of Spain concluded a two-day visit to Lebanon Tuesday by visiting the headquarters of his country's UNIFIL contingent in southern Lebanon.

'We in Spain are determined to work with the countries concerned to reach a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East,' the king was quoted as telling Lebanese president Michel Suleiman before heading south.

The king, wearing a military uniform, placed a wreath at the memorial for soldiers who have died in Lebanon since the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was deployed in 1978 to monitor the borders between Lebanon and Israel.

The king and his Defence Minister Carme Chacon visited the headquarters of the Spanish battalion in Marjayoun, southern Lebanon, where the monarch met with the commander of UNIFIL in Lebanon, the Spanish General Alberto Asarta Cuevas.

Juan Carlos' trip comes after the UN Spanish battalion took command of UNIFIL from the Italians last month.

Spain is also currently heading the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is accompanying the king, held talks Tuesday with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Lebanese counterpart Ali Chami.

'The time now is for ... all the parties to engage in serious talks' on both the Palestinian-Israeli and Israeli-Syria tracks, he said.

Moratinos said that his talks with Hariri touched on the recent Israeli threats against Lebanon.

Last week, Israel accused Beirut of allowing the fundamentalist Hezbollah to work on smuggling weapons into Lebanon in 'violation of (UN Security Council) Resolution 1701.'

Resolution 1701 ended 33 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah in July 2006.