BEIRUT- Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Satterfield left to Paris on Wednesday en route to Washington, while a US Congress delegation arrived in Beirut to hold talks with Lebanese officials.
Satterfield had been at the US embassy during the period that US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffery Feltman spent in the US for private reasons.
An official media source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that three private US planes landed at Beirut Airport just before Satterfield left the country and that on board them was a US Congress delegation of 14 officials.
The source added that the delegation met with Satterfield for a few minutes and that they are scheduled to meet with Lebanese officials within the next few hours.
Meanwhile, Director of Intelligence at the Lebanese Army Brigadier Raymond Azzar said in statements to the daily Al-Safir that he has submitted a request for a one-month vacation "of his own accord and not in response to anyone's directions." He added that he stands ready for any form of questioning as he is "innocent" of the charges he is accused of.
Lebanese opposition had demanded the resignation of six security officials considered responsible for the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri.
The newspaper said that the resignation or dismissal of security officials is imminent and that Peter Fitzgerald is likely to return as head of the international investigative committee.