Damascus denies ability to pressure opposition

 

Damascus on Wednesday said it could not force its Lebanese allies to accept a solution to the 13-month-old political impasse, as US President Georges W. Bush urged Syria and Iran to stop alleged meddling in Lebanon”s internal issues. “Dealing with Syria as if it was still in Lebanon or as if its allies are a tool represents an insult to a large proportion of the Lebanese,” Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told reporters during a news conference in Damascus.

 

“Reaching consensus in Lebanon is a joint Arab responsibility. Saudi Arabia plays a big role in Lebanon. It has allies who boast about their alliance with Saudi Arabia,” Bilal said.

 

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said this week that Damascus should use its influence with its allies in the Lebanese opposition to pass an Arab League plan to fill a vacuum in the presidency and form a functioning government. The exchange is the latest in a series of disagreements between the two countries relating to Lebanon ahead of an Arab summit in Damascus in March.

 

Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down at midnight on November 23, 2007.

On Wednesday, Bush urged Syria and Iran to stop “interfering” in Lebanon”s affairs and urged Lebanese parties hold a vote to elect a new president as soon as possible.

 

Meanwhile, Tehran voiced its support for the current Arab efforts aimed at ending Lebanon”s crisis and urged all Lebanese parties to reach an agreement that allows the election of a new head of state. “We appreciate the Arab League efforts and support the Arab plan to end Lebanon”s crisis,” Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Wednesday.

 

Arab League chief Amr Moussa arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to resume his efforts aimed at urging the country”s contending camps to adopt and implement an Arab initiative intended at ending Lebanon”s political crisis. Moussa met Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and parliamentary majority leader MP Saad HaririSaad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07 , as well as MP Michel Murr.

 

“I call on you to be optimistic … We will do our best,” Moussa told reporters after meeting Berri.

 

Asked if he was planning to arrange a meeting between Hariri and Christian opposition leader MP Michel Aoun, Moussa said: “I will speak tomorrow.”

 

MP Camille Khouri of Aoun”s Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) told The Daily Star on Wednesday that Aoun is “more than willing” to meet Hariri to discuss implementing the Arab initiative.

 

“General Aoun is more than ready and Moussa knows it, but we do not know where Hariri stands,” Khouri said.

Sources close to Hariri told The Daily Star on Tuesday that Hariri would only be ready to meet Aoun to discuss the implementation of the Arab initiative and nothing else.

 

Meanwhile, parliamentary majority sources voiced doubt about the seriousness of the opposition and the clarity of its agenda. “Berri was the opposition”s representative and MP Hariri met him 11 times, but the opposition suddenly decided to change its representative and named Aoun as its only negotiator,” the sources said.

 

Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea urged the opposition on Wednesday to “clarify” its stance concerning the Arab initiative. “I call on the opposition to openly say that it rejects the Arab plan instead of wasting time in searching for pretexts,” Geagea told LBC television.

 

Geagea accused the opposition of proposing the Hariri-Aoun meeting to waste time and divert attention from the Arab League initiative.
 

The three-point Arab plan calls for the election of the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces General Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government, and the drafting of a new electoral law for the 2009 parliamentary elections. The ruling coalition and the opposition are at odds over the interpretation of the Arab plan, namely the item of the unity government. The plan said the government should be formed in such a way that prevents any party from imposing or blocking cabinet decisions.

 

The opposition wants veto power in the next cabinet but some of its leaders have hinted that they are ready to give up veto power on the condition that no other party enjoys the same right, thus reaching a 30-member government with 10 ministers each for the president, ruling coalition and opposition.

 

On the other hand, parliamentary majority sources have repeatedly said that the March 14 bloc will not accept sharing power equally with the opposition, as such a formula would not reflect their majority status in Parliament.

 

The Beirut daily An-Nahar quoted opposition sources on Wednesday as saying an agreement would not be reached anytime soon and electing a new president could be delayed to as far as the 2009 parliamentary elections. The sources said the opposition will not take any street measures against the government before January 27.

 

Hizbullah”s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc also issued a statement on Wednesday welcoming the Arab mediation and urging the ruling coalition to accept true partnership.

 

Hizbullah”s second in command, Sheikh Naim Qassem, on Wednesday accused the ruling coalition of rejecting partnership in favor of a American agenda. “We advise you to accept partnership, because whatever you do, the Americans will not be satisfied. They will ask for more,” Qassem said, addressing the ruling coalition.

 

Also commenting on the crisis, the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces said Wednesday that the lack of trust between the contending camps was obstructing all solutions. Suleiman added that he hoped the Arab efforts aimed at resolving the crisis would come to a successful end.

 

“I feel the situation in Lebanon is like a bomb that needs to be detonated … The bomb is in my hand and I am responsible for delaying its explosion and defusing it,” he said. 

 

Suleiman stressed the role of the army as “the best example of national unity” in Lebanon.

 

He added that the army “supported resistance against Israel, and fought terrorism as well as sectarianism.” 

 

Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said on LBC television late Tuesday that a Qatari mediation effort had been stalled and that Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani cancelled a visit to Beirut scheduled last Saturday.

 

In a telephone conversation with The Daily Star, Zahra said the aim of the visit was to request guarantees from Suleiman on two issues: Hizbullah”s arms, and Lebanese-Syrian relations.

 

Zahra said Suleiman refused to give any guarantees and as a result the Qatari visit was cancelled.