Sultanov in Beirut Saturday to Shore up Support for Peace Conference
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov is expected to visit Beirut on Saturday in an attempt to shore up support for his country”s plans to host a Middle East peace conference.
An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Sultanov”s visit to Lebanon comes as part of a regional tour that will also take him to Damascus, Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Cairo.
Russia, a member of the international quartet of nations trying to broker a Mideast peace, has offered to host a follow-up conference to the U.S.-brokered negotiations held in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2007 to re-launch peace negotiations between Israel and the Arabs.
The Russian move is aimed at drawing into the Middle Eastern countries” attention that attempts by Paris to host a similar peace conference is aimed at thwarting Moscow”s plans, An Nahar said.
However, sources at the Lebanese foreign ministry said that there is a difference between what France is calling for and the decisions reached at the Annapolis conference.
The sources told An Nahar that President Nicolas Sarkozy is planning to hold a general peace conference similar to the Madrid conference in which Arab and Western countries would take part.