The information office of the Lebanese presidency said in a statement yesterday that the protocol assets were all applied in the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Baabda Palace on Friday afternoon, in response to misinformation about the ceremony that accompanied the visit of Pompeo.
"The media and social networking sites are dealing with contradictory and ambiguous information about the ceremony that accompanied the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the Baabda Palace on Friday afternoon, and these means are based on interpretations and jurisprudence based on this information," the statement said.
The statement added that "the clarification of the truth and the determination of any analysis or diligence, the Information Office of the Presidency of the Republic is interested to clarify the following: All the protocol adopted at the reception of the Secretary of State, and there was no delay to meet with the President of the Republic.
"According to protocol, the Lebanese president shook hands with the guest minister and the US ambassador to Beirut who accompanied him. After the meeting, the President shook hands with the members of the American delegation accompanying Minister Pompeo, as is usual with all official delegations.
The statement said that «the signing of the record of honor in the presidential palace is due to the desire of the guest, the record was equipped at the entrance to the hall according to the rules, but the extension of the meeting to a longer than the time allotted to him, and because of the Minister Pompeo's date of a delay of about thirty minutes, Without signing the record. »
"These facts, documented by video and video, prove that Minister Pompeo was received at the Baabda Palace and was deposed in accordance with the approved protocol, which was previously communicated to the American Embassy in Beirut and to the Minister's work, Pompeo," the statement added.
It is noteworthy that Minister Pompeo had visited the presidential palace on Friday afternoon to meet with President Aoun accompanied by the accompanying delegation during his meetings with Lebanese officials during his visit to Lebanon.
Local media reported that President Michel Aoun was delayed minutes before receiving Pompeo, and that President Aoun did not shake hands with all members of the delegation accompanying Pompeo.
The meetings of the social media circulated information that the meetings of the US Secretary of State in Beirut did not take place as desired, especially in the stations of Baabda, Ain al-Tineh and external, where Pompeo heard from the President of the Republic a clear and unequivocal position on Hezbollah, as well as during his meeting with President Nabih Berri and the Minister Gibran Basil.
Which prompted Minister Pompeo to leave Baabda Palace upset and tense without giving any statement and without writing a word on the Golden Register.