Ban calls Sleiman, urges dialogue to move 'forward'

                 
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hoped on Tuesday that Lebanon's rival parties would "cooperate responsibly” with President Michel Sleiman to resolve the country's crisis.             

During a telephone conversation held with Sleiman, Ban expressed his strong support for the Lebanese president's “guidance in preserving the security and stability in the country, and stressed the importance of Lebanon's dissociation policy.”               

A statement issued by the U.N. also said Ban “hoped that all parties in Lebanon would engage responsibly with President Sleiman and work together through dialogue to move forward for the sake of national interest.”                 

The phone conversation came following the resignation of Prime Minister Najib Mikati last Friday over disputes between cabinet members on the authority that would oversee the elections and the extension of the mandate of Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi.                    

The U.N. chief “expressed his solidarity with Lebanon in its efforts exerted in regards to the growing influx of refugees fleeing the violence from Syria”, according to the statement.                      

It added that Ban advised Sleiman “to urge the international community to grant further help to Lebanon to deal with this serious humanitarian crisis.”