Damascus Summit Ends, Lebanon Harvests “Victory in Absentia”

Lebanon on Sunday harvested what is tantamount to a victory in absentia at the Arab Summit in Damascus, the final statement of which called for the speedy election of a president, tackling Lebanese-Syrian disputes and declared support for the international tribunal.

The statement also rejected attempts to partition Iraq and urged Arab states to reopen their embassies in Baghdad.

 

The summit, boycotted by Lebanon, also declared support for the Arab peace plan, originally launched in 2002, and urged the “launching of direct negotiations on all tracks to end the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

 

In a meeting behind closed doors early Sunday, the head of Egypt”s delegation Mufid Shehab “criticized Syria directly over Lebanon.”

 

The report by Agence France Presse was attributed to a source, who took part in the meeting.

 

Iraq Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, who headed his nation”s delegation, also directly criticized the Libyan leader over the latter”s stand on Iraq, the source added.

 

A gulf source also described the two sessions held behind closed doors as “sessions of verbal storms.”

 

On Lebanon, the summit”s final statement called for

“adherence to the Arab initiative to settle the Lebanese crisis.”

 

It also urged “Lebanon”s leaders to accomplish the election of consensus candidate Gen. Michel Suleiman (president) on the set schedule and agree on the basis for the formation of a national unity government as soon as possible.”

 

The summit”s final statement also stressed on “placing Lebanese-Syrian relations on the proper track in line with interests of both states and assigning the (Arab League) Secretary General to start working on achieving this “goal.

 

The leaders also stressed on importance of the “formation of the international tribunal to reveal the truth in the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and his comrades, aside from vengeance and politicization.”

 

It was the first time that a nation boycotting the summit has succeeded in harvesting such recognition of its problems.

 

A Ranking Arab diplomat had told Naharnet the Summit”s statement would “set the record straight regarding the collective Arab stand on the Lebanon crisis.”

 

The source, speaking on condition of further anonymity, said that would be a “victory in absentia for Lebanon,” the state that has boycotted the summit and gained recognition by its members that its crisis is a “focal challenge to the Arab nation.”

 

Lebanon has attributed its boycott to differences with Syria, that it has charged with meddling in its internal affairs and rejecting to normalize mutual relations.

 

On the Arab-Israeli conflict, the statement said Arab persistence with the peace plan is “linked to implementation by Israel of all its obligations.”

 

The leaders assigned the ministerial committee entrusted with the Arab Peace Plan to “assess progress of the Arab peace strategy … in a month time” after which Arab foreign ministers would meet to “consider the report and adopt a decision in this regard.”

 

On Iraq, the Arab leaders rejected interventions in the trouble-ridden nation”s internal affairs, backed national reconciliation efforts and a “speedy review of controversial items in its constitution.”

 

The statement said Arab leaders are “keen on the fair distribution of Iraq”s resources.”

 

Iraqi vice president registered a reservation on the statement, the nature of which could not be determined immediately.

 

Syrian President Bashar Assad addressing the last session said the summit was concluded in a positive atmosphere, the most important of which was the sessions behind closed doors.

 

The next summit would be hosted by Qatar in 2009.