US, Arab League sign framework for dialogue

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and League of Arab States Secretary General Nabil Elaraby have signed a Memorandum of Understanding outlining a framework for future dialogue and technical cooperation between the United States and the League. The memorandum outlines a plan for regular high-level dialogue between the Secretary of State and the League of Arab States Secretary General, the State Department said in announcing the news, late on Tuesday. It also establishes a framework for future cooperation "to bring direct benefits to our people, proposing issue-specific dialogues that address areas such as education and humanitarian cooperation," the announcement said. Clinton and Elaraby met on the margins of the UN General Assembly. In their meeting, the two "noted the value of increased cooperation between the United States and the League, highlighting their shared commitment to further action in support of the Syrian people," the announcement said. They also reaffirmed their condemnation of the killing of U.S. personnel in Libya and violence against embassies in the region and emphasized the tradition of tolerance shared by citizens in the United States and people across the Arab world, it said. Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama greeted President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi of Yemen on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to thank him for helping secure the U.S. embassy in Sanaa, the White House announced. Obama dropped by a meeting between Hadi and top White House counter-terror adviser John Brennan after delivering his speech at the United Nations, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters. Whilte at the UN gathering, Clinton also met with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Miqati and the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi. During the hour-long meeting with Brahimi, they discussed "at a broad level ...ideas about how to bring about an effective political transition to a new democratic Syria," a senior State Department official said during a background briefing. They also reviewed efforts by the Syrian opposition to follow up on the Cairo meeting that was held under Arab League auspices in August, and efforts inside and outside Syria to coalesce the opposition on the political dimension and in trying to deliver services in areas the regime no longer controls, the official said. At the end of the meeting, they briefly discussed the ad hoc meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People on Friday, the official noted. During her half-hour meeting with Miqati, Clinton discussed the potential risks and threats to Lebanon's stability arising from the conflict in Syria, including refugee flows into Lebanon, the official said. Miqati highlighted his concerns about extremists coming into Lebanon and potentially using the north as a platform for operations that would destabilize Lebanon and surrounding areas, the official said. Clinton "very much acknowledged that risk and reinforced our view that there is a very acute risk in the south, and in fact more than a risk -- an actuality -- of Hezbollah using its areas as a platform for destabilizing Syria and also creating real challenges in other parts of the world as well," the official said.