US warship leaves Lebanon for Gulf

A US warship deployed off the coast of Lebanon has passed through the Suez Canal and is heading for the Gulf, an official with the canal authority told AFP.

"The USS Cole has crossed the Suez Canal and is making its way to the Gulf," the official said.

The United States sent the guided-missile destroyer to waters off the coast of Lebanon on February 28, in what US officials said was "a show of support for regional stability" amid concerns over Lebanon's protracted political crisis.

During a stop in Cairo on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the deployment of the destroyer off Lebanon was aimed at "defending (US) interests and the interests of its allies."

Lebanon has been without a president since last November amid political feuding between the Western-backed ruling parliamentary majority and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.

The majority accuses Syria of blocking efforts to elect a new president in Lebanon, which was under Syrian military domination for 29 years until Damascus withdrew its troops in April 2005.

The pro-Syrian Hezbollah last week slammed the presence of the Cole as military interference and the Western-backed government insisted it did not ask for the warship to be sent. AFP