Moussa Asks: Have You Got a Replacement for Suleiman?
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said he would discuss with the various leaders in Beirut on Friday ways to implement a three-point Arab plan aimed at ending the prolonged political crisis.
“I”m coming back to Beirut to discuss the Arab initiative. That”s it,” Moussa said in remarks published by the daily An Nahar Tuesday.
In response to a question on whether his mission will focus on electing army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, Moussa asked: “Have you got another candidate?”
Moussa said he had contacted Damascus, Saudi Arabia and Egypt and described the telephone conversations as “encouraging.”
Moussa”s return followed reports that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had informed the Arab League chief during a telephone conversation on Saturday that he rejects the “negative stances” by some sides regarding the Arab initiative.
Informed sources said Berri stressed to Moussa that Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun was willing to resume talks that could be sponsored by the Arab League chief.
Moussa is expected to resume efforts aimed at organizing a meeting between Aoun, ex-President Amin Gemayel and Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri to discuss the three-point Arab plan.
The plan calls for the election of Suleiman president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto or majority powers, and adoption of a new electoral law.
Another point to be discussed, according to the sources, is related to providing mutual guarantees between the warring political camps “to facilitate confidence-building” efforts.
A leading Hizbullah figure said these two points could be considered as “factors assisting in building trust,” without indicating whether they could lead to a settlement.
Electing Suleiman during a parliamentary session scheduled for Feb. 11, however, tops Moussa”s agenda, according to the sources.
Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said Moussa is welcome in Lebanon if his visit is aimed at mediating between factions.
“The opposition is rejecting the suggested formulas on the establishment of the next government,” Hajj Hassan said, adding that the opposition still adheres to the veto power, “or else there won”t be a solution.”
Meanwhile, a ministerial source saw that stances by some opposition leaders, who continued to view Suleiman with deep suspicion following bloody riots in Beirut last week, slimmed chances of success for Moussa.