Battle over Arab plan to heal Lebanon heats up
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora flew to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the Lebanese political crisis with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The visit came four days before Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa is scheduled to brief Arab foreign ministers in the Egyptian capital on the results of his efforts to mediate an end to the Lebanese impasse. Moussa”s report may determine the future of the Arab initiative to resolve Lebanon”s presidential crisis and whether the opposition launches street protests in the coming days.
Before leaving for Egypt, Siniora held talks with a visiting Russian envoy, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov. Earlier, Sultanov had met separately with Speaker Nabih Berri and MP Saad Hariri, leader of the majority in the House.
Meanwhile, Change and Reform MP Michel Murr broke ranks with the bloc”s leader, MP Michel Aoun, who had taken issue with Moussa”s interpretation of the Arab plan.
The proposal calls for the election of the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president; the formation of a national unity government; and the promulgation of a new electoral law. It sets down no details on the makeup of a unity cabinet, however, leading opposition and government supporters to adopt different interpretations. Moussa has backed the government side.
“Speaking as a Christian, the Arab initiative gives the president the swing vote in Cabinet, a right the Taif Accord [which ended the 1975-1990 Civil War] did not,” Murr said. “What more could we as Christians ask for than this initiative?”
Asked for his view of Aoun”s ultimatum that the opposition be granted a third plus one of posts in a national unity government or take to the streets in protest, Murr said: “Not the streets of Metn. The people of Metn do not express their opinions through demonstrations … There is an initiative for the benefit of the Christians. Do we answer it by taking to the street?”
Murr added that anyone who disagrees with him on this point does not have Lebanon”s best interest at heart.
Moussa”s assistant, Ambassador Hisham Youssef, told local daily Ad-Diyar on Tuesday that there was no going back on his boss” interpretation.
“All those who criticized [Moussa] have the right to give their opinion, but the interpretation is clear and it was agreed on during the drafting,” Youssef said. “Does any one imagine they know the spirit of the Arab initiative better than the secretary general?”
Youssef said the report would present options, evaluate the results of Moussa”s meetings in Lebanon and Damascus, which backs the opposition, and make recommendations. As for holding an emergency summit, Youssef said it all depends on whether any Arab state proposes convening one or not, adding that it would be a “major step.”
Leaders of the ruling March 14 Forces coalition held a meeting at Hariri”s residence in Qoreitem late Tuesday, after which they released a statement attributing Lebanon”s dire economic situation to the opposition”s 13-month sit-in in Downtown Beirut. They urged the public not to give in to the “atmosphere of fear and apprehension” stirred up by “the group aligned with the Syrian-Iranian axis” and to live their lives normally.
The statement accused the opposition of exploiting economic hardship to spread fear and called on people to ignore a strike called for Thursday, arguing that what seemed like legitimate demands were actually inspired by the aforementioned “Syrian-Iranian axis.”
“The March 14 Forces will not acquiesce to such methods and is committed to fighting these attempts with all political, popular and legal measures in order to safeguard the republic and national peace,” the statement warned.
The ruling coalition also condemned the opposition for disagreeing with its interpretation of the Arab League plan.
Telecommunications Minister and March 14 MP Marwan Hamadeh said the coalition would move “in all directions and in all spheres” to defeat the opposition”s goals.
“Locally we will extend our hands to consensus as we did with both the French and Arab initiatives,” he said. “At the same time, we will work on the internal political level, at the union level, the Arab level, internationally and among the expatriate community, in preparation to commemorate [the second anniversary of] the martyrdom of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on February 14.”
Hamadeh denied that March 14 had weapons but insisted that it does have wide popular support that grows with every passing day.
“We fear neither sit-ins, nor strikes nor protests,” said Hamadeh, whose allies have frequently referred to opposition pressure tactics as attempts to carry out a “coup d”etat.”
The minister, who hosted US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman and British Ambassador Frances Mary Guy at his home on Wednesday, added that legal forms of protest that do not harm civil peace would not be opposed by the government, but did not explain what these might be. Strikes and sit-ins are legal under Lebanese law.