BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed U.S. support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and democracy in a surprise visit Thursday and called on Syria to cooperate with a U.N. investigation into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, Rice also said Iran must live up to its international obligation and not seek nuclear weapons.

Her visit to Lebanon came amid sharpening domestic political tensions over attempts to remove pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud by the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority.

“It’s up to the Lebanese to decide who is going to govern this country,” she said.

She reiterated support for the Saniora government as it continues the process of political reform and separation from Syria, which controlled Lebanon for almost three decades and withdrew its army in April.

“I’m quite certain that this period is going to produce a more democratic Lebanon … that is determined that there should not be foreign influences nor influences of violence,” Rice said.

She was referring to the requirements of a 2004 United Nations resolution that demanded an end to Syrian political interference, and the disarming of militia. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has two ministers in the Cabinet, and has refused to disarm.

Rice said she came to Lebanon “to affirm the firm support of the United States of America for the Lebanese people as they work to have a fully sovereign, democratic Lebanon.”

Rice said “there must be full cooperation” by Syria with the U.N. investigation into the Hariri assassination. The U.N. investigation has accused Syria of failing to cooperate fully with the probe, which has already implicated Syrian officials in the assassination.

Rice did not meet Lahoud on her visit, and took no specific position on whether he should stay or go.

She told reporters accompanying her that the Lebanese “need a presidency that looks forward, not back, and that defends Lebanese sovereignty.”

Asked if Lahoud is an obstacle to that progress, Rice replied, “The Lebanese people will have to decide what the obstacles to their progress are, but I think they do want to look forward.”

Rice’s visit was timed close to the anniversary this month of the 2005 assassination of Hariri, a nationalist politician who had tried to pry his country from 30 years of Syrian political domination.

Hariri’s death launched street protests that eventually forced Syrian troops from Lebanon last spring, but the United States claims that Syrian intelligence agents remain and that Damascus is still trying to meddle in Lebanese politics.

Rice met with Lahoud on her first visit to Lebanon as secretary of state last year, but made clear the visit was merely a pro forma nicety. Her first stops on that trip were the Hariri family compound and his burial shrine.

Buoyed by street protests marking the Hariri anniversary, the anti-Syrian coalition launched a campaign against Lahoud that could include strikes and street protests, and possibly a march on the presidential palace.

There are warnings of counter-demonstrations, which could lead to clashes. Lahoud on Monday warned that “security is a red line,” implicitly hinting at the use of force.

Lahoud, Damascus’ top ally in Beirut, was elected by Parliament before the Syrian pullout. His term runs through 2007 and he has pledged to remain until the last moment.

Lahoud won a three-year extension of his term in 2004 under what was widely seen as Syrian pressure, and anti-Syrian groups are looking to reverse that.

The anti-Syrian coalition says Lahoud is politically isolated at home and diplomatically isolated abroad.

Anti-Syrian lawmakers have a slim majority in the parliament, but they don’t have the necessary two-thirds hold on the legislature to oust Lahoud by their self-imposed deadline of March 14.