PM Transcripts

TEL: & Au .94 1 : I5 No. 009 P. 0
PRIME MINISTER 77' 94
STATEMENT BY THE PRIME MINISTER, THE HON P J KEATING MP
THE AUSTRALIAN EMBASSY BEIRUT
I am pleased to announce the Government has agreed in principle to re-open the
Australian Embassy in Beirut in 1995. The Governiment is planning that the Embassy
will be operational by around July next year.
The Embassy was closed in 1984 as a result of the deteriorating security situation
caused by Lebanon's civil war. Since then, Australia's interests in Lebanon have been
handled through the Australian Embassy in Damascus. A small non-diplomatic office
was established in Beirut in January 1993 to assist with visa processing and consular
services. The decision wil be of immediate assistance to the 250,000 people of Lebanese origin
who live in Australia and who have a strong interest in ease of communications
between Australia and Lebanon.
The Government's decision to re-establish an official Australian diplomatic presence in
Beirut represents an expression of confidence in Lebanon's future and in the prospects
for Australia's relations with Lebanon,
Australia has welcomed the recent positive developments in the Middle East peace
process and hopes that these developments will1 provide the impetus for the early
conclusion of a comprehensive settlement, including a peace treaty between Lebanon
and Israel. Australia also hopes that the Lebanese Government will press ahead with
its program of national reconciliation after nearly two decades of sectarian conflict.
The presence of an Australian Embassy in Beirut will help to foster trade and
commercial links between the two countries. Lebanon's reconstruction program offers
many opportunities for foreign construction and engineering companies. The
Government hopes that Australian companies will be able to compete more effectively
for a part in Lebanon's reconstruction with the assistance that an official Australian
presence in Beirut can provide.
CANBERRA 23 August 1994 I IDi-.