Arab summit “needs a Christian Lebanese president”

 

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said on Thursday that Lebanon must be represented in the upcoming Arab League summit in Damascus by a Maronite Christian president in order to demonstrate the country”s “true diversity.”

 

Siniora told reporters in Paris ahead of a meeting with French President Nicholas Sarkozy that Lebanon has not yet received an official invitation to take part in the summit, scheduled for March.

 

“The invitation must be sent to the president. Lebanon must be represented at the summit by its president,” he said. “It is crucial to have a Christian president represented in a meeting among 22 Arab states,” he said, adding that this would demonstrate that “Lebanon represents true diversity … and civil peace.”

 

The premier said that Lebanon can serve as a model of coexistence and provide an example that counters the model of the state of Israel. Lebanon, he said, “is the opposite of Israel … If we want to fight Israel we must once again confirm peaceful coexistence in Lebanon … and we should have a Maronite president at the summit.”

 

The prime minister also reiterated his support for the three-point Arab initiative aimed at ending Lebanon”s ongoing political crisis. “The Arab initiative provides a feasible solution to the crisis in Lebanon,” he said.

 

“It denies the parliamentary majority the right to impose decisions by giving it less than half of the cabinet seats, but it also denies the opposition the right to block decisions by giving it less than “one third plus one” of the seats,” he added.

 

The Arab initiative, adopted in Cairo last month, calls for the immediate election of the commander of Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president, the formation of a national unity government, and the drafting of a new electoral law.

 

Suleiman was quoted by As-Safir newspaper on Thursday as saying that he would withdraw his candidacy if he is elected by a simple majority of Parliament and not by consensus. Members of the ruling March 14 coalition have warned that they might vote by a simple majority.

 

Also Thursday, March 14 issued a statement rejecting any equal power-sharing arrangement with the opposition.

 

Several opposition leaders have said in recent days that they are ready to accept a proposal in which the ruling coalition, the opposition and the  new president would each get 10 ministerial posts in the next cabinet. Future Movement leader Saad HaririSaad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07  said on Wednesday the formula was a Syrian recipe, while opposition leaders said it was first proposed by Hariri.

 

Arab League chief Amr Moussa is due to arrive in Beirut on Friday to discuss the various proposals for fulfilling the three-point Arab initiative. His assistant, Hisham Youssef, arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to pave the way for Moussa”s visit.
 

Youssef told the Saudi newspaper Okaz that Moussa will bring new suggestions when he returns to Lebanon.   Youssef met with Suleiman and former President Amin Gemayel on Thursday after meeting opposition figures, including MP Ali Hassan Khalil, on Wednesday.

 

Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt rejected the 10+10+10 formula on Thursday, saying it contradicted the Taif Accord, the 1989 agreement that put an end to the Civil War.

 

Jumblatt told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassah that March 14 prefers to negotiate a solution to the crisis with Speaker Nabih Berri and not Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

 

“We are ready to discuss a solution with rational leaders of the Shiite sect,” he said.  “Nasrallah is stripping Shiites of their Lebanese identity.” he added.

 

Jumblatt warned the Hizbullah leader that the Syrian regime is ready to cut a deal with Israel at the expense of Hizbullah and other groups.

 

In another interview, Jumblatt told The Guardian that Hizbullah is run by the Iranians and Syrians. “We have a party that is run by remote control by the Iranians and the Syrians, that is very well armed and trained and is paralyzing the whole of life and is not willing to accept the rule of the Lebanese state,” he said.

 

“They are part of the Parliament but they want to impose their will to declare war and peace whenever they feel like it. They are using Lebanon as a platform for their own advantage.”

 

Jumblatt said Syrian President Bashar Assad would “do anything to sabotage the UN tribunal investigating the [former Premier Rafik] Hariri killing, and was allowing Hizbullah to smuggle rockets into Lebanon.”

 

“Hizbullah has a formidable security infrastructure and the Syrians couldn”t have done all their bloody murders without the facilities offered by Hizbullah and other allies of Syria,” he insisted.

 

“For Syria, Lebanon is just a province … As for the crazy Iranian [President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad, Lebanon is a platform to be used against the Israelis and the Americans and he is trying slowly but surely to establish his Hizbullah state in Lebanon. Lebanon is paralyzed … we won”t have stability and peace in Lebanon as long as these bloody butchers are there,” he said.