Egypt: Hizbullah-led opposition has “rejected the Arab initiative
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit accused the Lebanese opposition on Sunday of rejecting the three-point Arab initiative to end Lebanon”s political crisis.
Abu al-Gheit said the opposition was responsible for creating obstacles to implementing the initiative. Meanwhile, Arab League chief Amr Moussa met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday in an effort to facilitate the success of an upcoming Arab summit, scheduled for March 29-30 in Damascus.
“The Arab summit will not be postponed despite tense inter-Arab relations,” Moussa said after meeting Mubarak.
Before heading to Cairo, Moussa met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Saturday to make arrangements for the summit.
“I discussed with President Assad the dangerous problems that strained inter-Arab relations,” Moussa said in a joint news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem after meeting Assad.
“We both agreed that all Arab parties want the summit to succeed,” he added.
The Damascus summit is at stake as a number of Arab countries accuse Syrian of not facilitating the election of a new president in Lebanon.
Mubarak, Saudi King Abdullah, and other Arab leaders are not likely to take participate unless Lebanon”s crisis is resolved.
Moallem criticized Arab countries which were tying their participation in the summit to the Lebanese crisis.
“This is an ordinary Arab League summit. It is not an exceptional one that is dedicated to discussing the Lebanese crisis,” Moallem said.
He added that all Arab countries, including Lebanon, would be invited to the summit.
Syria has so far sent out invitations to all member states except Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad Shatah, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora”s adviser, said on Sunday that the government is the only party in charge of deciding who to represent Lebanon in the summit.
Shatah played down the possibility that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri would represent Lebanon at the summit.
He added that “the government may choose the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, “to represent the country.”
Suleiman is tipped to become Lebanon”s new head of state.
In the news conference on Saturday, Moallem accused the US of undermining a solution to Lebanon”s crisis by its recent deployment of the USS Cole off the Lebanese coast. Washington said on Thursday it had sent the destroyer to waters off Lebanon, amid concern over regional stability and Lebanon”s protracted political crisis.
“The policies adopted by the US administration in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan are wrong. This show of force will not lead, as they pretend, to stability,” Moallem said.
He also accused the US of sending the warship to signal its rejection of the Arab League plan to solve the Lebanese crisis.
“The US cannot impose a solution on Lebanon … The solution in Lebanon will be within the framework of the Arab initiative, the efforts of Amr Moussa and understanding between the Lebanese people,” he added.
Moussa has been mediating between feuding Lebanese politicians to spur them to elect a new president. Last week he said the two sides have agreed on electing Suleiman as president, but are still at odds over the make-up of a new government.
However, Berri said late Friday that the main problem was the electoral law.
Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud left office in late November.
The Lebanese Parliament has failed on 15 occasions to elect a successor for Lahoud. Parliament is due to meet on March 11 in a fresh attempt.
Also on Saturday, foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council urged Lebanese lawmakers to head to Parliament and elect a president on March 11.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia”s ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel-Aziz Khoja, met with Siniora to explain the recent call by Saudi Arabia for its citizens to leave Lebanon.
Khoja told the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper on Sunday that the call was prompted by a stray bullet that struck a Saudi diplomat”s car in Beirut.
Khoja said the bullet hit the back of the vehicle as the diplomat was riding with his family.
“The Saudi diplomat and his family were not hurt, but the bullet struck the car by mistake,” he added.
The ambassador did not specify when the incident occurred, but a Lebanese police official said the car was accidentally hit Friday night by celebratory gunfire that erupted during a televised interview with the Parliament Speaker.
Three Lebanese citizens were lightly injured in the shooting, added the police official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified.
Khoja said the incident prompted the Saudi Embassy in Beirut to urge its citizens on Saturday to be vigilant or evacuate the country as soon as possible.
Several Saudi citizens in Lebanon also reported receiving calls or mobile text messages from their embassy Saturday, urging them to leave the country.
One citizen said he was told by the embassy that women and children in particular were advised to leave within 48 hours.
Saudi Arabia issued an advisory on February 18 for its citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon, citing unstable security conditions.
Lebanese acting Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri said the Saudi warning was based on “specific threats” received by its embassy in Beirut. “The Saudis have specific reasons. They have received specific threats,” Mitri told LBC television, though he did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdel-Aaal al-Qenai on Saturday denied that the embassy has issued a statement requesting Kuwaiti nationals to leave Lebanon.
The ambassador pointed to the statement of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry that was issued last week, which advised Kuwaiti nationals to exercise caution while in Lebanon.