Rival Lebanese parties resume dialogue on national defense strategy today
Aoun proposes direct talks with Israel – provided Damascus takes part
Lebanon”s national dialogue resumes Monday on uncertain terrain after Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun was quoted as saying Sunday that he was not against direct talks between Lebanon and Israel if Syria were involved. "We don”t mind direct negotiations with Israel if Syria is at the same table," he said.
Hizbullah MP Amin Sherri had little to say to The Daily Star on Sunday in reaction to Aoun”s comments, which he said should be "read and treated in context."
Aoun”s remarks came as the 14 signatories of last May”s Doha Accord were preparing for the third round of talks aimed at agreeing on a national defense strategy. The dialogue session will convene under the auspices of President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace.
In addition, Aoun told the Bahraini daily Al-Bilad that his relations with the United States were likely to improve under the administration of President-elect Barack Obama. "We will be repairing our ties with the US at the earliest opportunity," he said.
Media reports on Sunday suggested that Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea would reveal his strategy blueprint during the talks on Monday.
Geagea was putting the final touches on a 12-page proposal, the pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat said.
LF MP George Adwan said after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir on Sunday that Geagea”s strategy was very similar to the Swiss model as it relies on state-controlled "popular resistance."
Aoun submitted his own blueprint during the last dialogue session in November, but the retired general”s plan was met with severe criticism by the March 14 Forces. Aoun”s defense strategy was also based on promoting "popular resistance" as a way to defend Lebanon against any possible Israeli attack.
However, Aoun”s model was described as "chaotic" by his rival politicians.
Hizbullah, whose arsenal is at the heart of the national talks, had presented its views regarding a national defense strategy during earlier talks in 2006.
Also Sunday, the March 14 alliance issued a statement calling for adopting a national defense strategy that is based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701.
"The international resolution is Lebanon”s only guarantee," the statement said.
The resolution brought a cessation of hostilities in the 2006 war between Lebanon in Israel and demanded that Hizbullah be disarmed.
Meanwhile, weekend media reports said that French President Nicholas Sarkozy would propose launching direct peace talks between Lebanon and Israel during his visit to Beirut early next month.
Local daily Ad-Diyar quoted diplomatic sources as saying that Sarkozy would also propose to Syrian officials that their Turkish-mediated indirect talks with Israel be transferred to a European capital where they can be held under the patronage of the Middle East Quartet, which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, the US and Russia.
In a related development, United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said this country would benefit from peace between Syria and Israel.
Williams told the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Sunday that a Syrian-Israeli peace was among a number of regional changes which could facilitate an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Shebaa Farms. He added that the new US administration was likely to make it easier for the UN to persuade Israel to leave Shebaa in 2009.
While stressing that settling the issue of "internal arms" in Lebanon required patience, Williams said the recent establishing of diplomatic ties between Beirut and Damascus would help achieve a solution to the issue of Palestinian arms outside refugee camps. Lebanese parties agreed during the 2006 dialogue on disarming Palestinian groups outside the camps, but no measures have been taken to achieve this goal.
On a separate level, Defense Minister Elias Murr returned to Beirut on Sunday following a trip to Moscow, which surprised Lebanon last week by declaring its willingness to provide the Lebanese Armed Forces with 10 MiG-29 fighter jets free of charge. Murr was quoted on Sunday as saying that Russian and American aid to the LAF did not contradict each other.
"On the contrary, the Russian support to our air force would complement American support to our ground forces," he said. "The recent Russian aid might also pave the way for our getting Cobra attack helicopters from Washington."
"Now that the Russians have supplied us with fighter jets, the US can concentrate on providing the LAF with armored tanks and special ground weaponry to enable the army to confront terrorism," he added.
Last week, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Hale confirmed that his country planned to deliver M-60 tanks to Lebanon in the spring next year as part of a commitment to help the LAF.