Mubarak discusses with Siniora in Cairo bilateral cooperation progress, situation in Lebanon

Siniora: No indirect Egyptian meditation between Lebanon, Israel

Sleiman: Lebanon won't be message-exchanging arena

Berri: Lebanon should switch from power phase to state phase

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora concluded his visit to Cairo, where he met with Egyptian General Omar Sleiman and was scheduled to meet with President Hosni Mubarak. His meeting with Mubarak was postponed, however, because of the Egyptian president was unwell after returning from Paris.

Mubarak contacted Siniora by phone and encouraged continued cooperation for the development of relations between the two countries.

The Egyptian president also said he would continue to support the efforts of President Michel Sleiman and the Lebanese government to stabilize the situation and activate dialogue in Lebanon.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa focused their meeting in Cairo on the upcoming Arab economic and social development summit to be held in Kuwait January 19-20.

During a joint press conference after the meeting, Moussa said that the meeting also focused on the latest developments in Lebanon and the Middle East as a whole.

On the Lebanese situation, Siniora affirmed that Lebanese could agree with each other and come to a middle ground for the sake of the country.

Whether the recent US raid on Syria would effect Lebanese-Syrian relations, Siniora stated that Lebanon was the first Arab country to condemn the operations at Boukamal region.

Relations would be based on the welfare and benefit for each country, affirmed Siniora, adding that beginning diplomatic relations with Syria was the first step on this aspect.

Siniora denied news about an Egyptian sponsorship of indirect peace talks between Israel and Lebanon.

Siniora also indicted that his country was willing to look into all arms deals with friendly states including Iran.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif welcomed the “positive developments” in Lebanon since the signing of the Doha Agreement.

At a joint press conference with his Lebanese counterpart Fouad Siniora, Nazif told reporters that the meeting of the Higher Lebanese Egyptian committee was “a start for restoring the official contacts with Lebanon.”

Asked about Egyptian efforts to assist economic and energy related development in Lebanon, Nazif said, “The Arab gas pipeline and the electric power common network between the Arab countries represent the true Arab integration… Egyptian gas will begin flowing into Lebanon as of January where as the electric power generated in Egypt will reach Lebanon through Jordan and Syria.”

Regarding a possible visit by Hezbollah officials to Egypt in the near future, he said that “Egypt believes in dialogue and what the brethren in Lebanon have reached is a big achievement.”

“Democratic dialogue is where we listen to the different views of all the political parties,” he said, adding that such dialogue was “best for Lebanon’s peace and stability…We will always pursue this kind of dialogue and Cairo’s doors will always be open to all Lebanese sects.”

Siniora said that “Egypt has always supported Lebanon and we asked the Egyptian brethren to assist and support the Lebanese army through providing it with equipment or training and the Egyptians responded positively to our request.”

Lebanon “is in dire need of gas and electrical power that Egypt can provide, especially since war conditions have diminished any chances to build new electric power stations,” Siniora said.

"Lebanon is expected to receive the first natural gas shipment from Egypt at the beginning of 2009 to operate the Deir Ammar [Beddawi] plant in the north," Energy and Water Minister Alan Tabourian announced on Friday. But Tabourian, who held talks with Egyptian officials in Cairo, ruled out the possibility of getting electricity from Egypt due to the high prices Egypt is charging.

"The Egyptian side assured us that Lebanon will receive natural gas at the beginning of 2009. Egypt will continue supplying us gas until 2013," Tabourian told reporters.

Tabourian was part of a team headed by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora that visited Egypt for two days. Lebanon signed several agreements in Cairo, including one on natural gas.

The Beddawi plant was designed to run on gas but is currently fired by fuel oil. The government hopes to reduce the national energy bill by 30 percent by switching gas-capable plants away from oil.

Tabourian also said that the prices Egypt was offering for electricity was "simply too high for Lebanon."

"We did not reach any compromise on the prices of electricity with Egypt. I realize that additional electricity will allow Lebanon to reduce the severe power rationing. But for the time being we can't do anything about it," he said.

Lebanon was supposed to receive between 150 MW and 450 MW from Egypt through a high voltage line that would cross Syria and Jordan.

Tabourian said he had asked Egyptian officials about the precise cost of electricity Lebanon intends to buy.

"I want to know the exact cost of electricity in Egypt because we don't want to spend lot of money that would cause further losses to Electricite du Liban (EDL)," he said.

Tabourian also warned that if the price of oil surged again, EDL's losses - and therefore the government's - would rise anew.

The Energy Ministry has projected a deficit close to $2 billion in 2009 based on an oil price of $100 per barrel.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the power sector's problems despite several studies prepared by international agencies.

Tabourian also said that the ministry plans to equip some of the existing power plants with new equipment to increase electricity output.

He also reiterated that Lebanon needs to invest in new generating stations in order to meet growing consumption and reduce rationing.

Energy experts say that Lebanon needs to build new power plants at a cost of $600 million. Siniora wants the private sector to be involved in the construction of the new facilities under build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreements.

Lebanon produces less than 1,600 MW of electricity, while the actual requirement is at least 2.300 MW.

Tabourian also stated that electricity theft fell from 40 percent in 2002 to 5.17 percent in 2006 and then rose to 22 percent due to the security and political situations.

The International Monetary Fund and donor countries are pressing the government to find radical solutions for the electricity crisis, warning that any future funds to Lebanon are linked to reforms in the energy sector.

During a reception organized in the president’s honor by Lebanon’s Ambassador in Rome Melhem Mesto, President Sleiman said that “truthful reconciliations have become an inevitable and pressing need in Lebanon.” The ceremony was also attended by Patriarch Sfeir.

During the opening of the meetings of the Egyptian-Lebanese Higher Committee along with PM Fouad Siniora, Egyptian PM Ahmad Nazif stressed Egypt’s “total support for all Lebanese parties in their drive to achieve stability in Lebanon.”

The Egyptian-Lebanese Higher Committee tackled the agreements concluded between the two countries and the means of developing them, especially with regard to education, electricity, labor, and supply of energy and gas.

In a meeting with businessmen, PM Siniora revealed that Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah has launched an initiative to hold an Arab economic summit aimed at discussing cooperation among Arab countries.

An-Nahar has learned at night that PM Siniora, whose visit to Cairo was to draw to an end today, postponed his return to Beirut until tomorrow in order to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak upon the latter’s return from Paris.

An-Nahar has learned from a UN source that President Sleiman’s participation in the Conference on Dialogue among Religions, which is scheduled on November 12 and 13 at the UN headquarters, “has yet to be confirmed.”

The UNRWA started clearing the rubble in the Nahr al-Bared camp in cooperation with UNDP, the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee and the PLO.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora met in Beirut with Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khoja.

During the meeting, they reviewed overall developments in Lebanon and brotherly relations between Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in all fields and ways of their enhancement.

Saad Al-Hariri, Head of the parliamentary group of Future Bloc, received also in Beirut Dr. Khoja.

During the meeting, they discussed the overall current developments in Lebanon and the region in addition to the fraternal relations binding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Lebanon in all fields and ways of enhancing them.

The southern suburb of the Lebanese capital, Beirut, witnessed on another spectacle of national unity, transforming the opening of the Imam al-Sadeq religious center into a gatherer occasion aimed at consolidating union and solidarity among all Lebanese people.

The ceremony was attended by various political and religious prominent figures, at the top of which were Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Kassem, Mufti of the Lebanese Republic Sheikh Mohamad Rachid Qabbani, Deputy Head of the Higher Islamic Shi’ite Council Sheikh Abd el-Amir Qabalan. Also remarkable was that the head of the Democratic Gathering MP Walid Jumblatt attended the meeting among others.

Berri, Sheikh Kassem and Sheikh Qabalan delivered speeches, mainly focusing on the serious need to consolidate unity and encourage reconciliations between rival factions as the means to reject foreign plots against the country and defeat sedition.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, Berri reiterated that the national defense strategy was crucial to confront attacks and occupation. "Opening this complex comes to follow the pattern of supporting the cultural system, establishing intellectual boundaries between the Resistance and terrorism and spreading awareness on Israeli greediness in Lebanese and Arab waters," Berri said.

The Speaker reiterated his ultimate support for reconciliations, but warned against dividing Lebanon into security zones or electoral frontlines and against forcing citizens in electoral districts into a cold war based on affiliations.

"It is time to take reform initiatives to move from a phase of power to the phase of state in compliance with the Taif Accord and Constitution," Berri said.

He renewed his confidence in the Lebanese Army and the plan set by the Central Security Council but firmly called for non-politicizing security measures. He stressed that Tripoli and the North were victims of terrorism and not bases.

The calls for unity were not limited to the Lebanese but extended to the whole Arab community. In particular, according to the Parliament Speaker, Palestinians need to unite. "Having Israel as an enemy was more than sufficient," Berri said, calling on Palestinians to achieve offer concessions in order to achieve unity between them.

“Otherwise, all the Palestinians' hopes of establishing the Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital, would be a mere Arab composition that could not transform into reality.”

Berri denounced once again the incurrence of Iraq's Christians and displacing them, revealing that Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa finally started contacts to invite Arab Ministers of Religious Endowments to an urgent meeting tackling the issue. "Whoever harms the Christian presence must be Israeli or at least an agent working for Israel's interest," Berri asserted.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Kassem stressed that Lebanon was a country for all Lebanese without exception. "When we call for unity, we're actually rejecting monopolization by any faction over the others," his eminence pointed out, calling on Lebanese to organize their political differences under the Taef agreement.

Sheikh Kassem hailed the summit meeting that joined on Sunday Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Future movement MP Saad Hariri as an important meeting. He said that the meeting constituted a fierce slap in the faces of all frivolous people who seek to impose sedition between Lebanese co-citizens. "To those we say that you cannot have a life among us, your schemes cannot pass through our conflicts," Sheikh Kassem said.

"Sayyed Nasrallah and Hariri meeting marks the beginning of a new era that would be filled with different reconciliations," Sheikh Kassem highlighted, adding that this meeting was not a formal reconciliation. "Rather, it's a path aimed at organizing political differences and rejecting sedition," his eminence asserted.

Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General called Lebanese to learn from previous experiences, stressing that Lebanon's strength was, in a major part, incorporated in the strength of its Resistance, Army and People."

Sheikh Qabalan also addressed the audience, calling to build a civilian, progressive, developed, cultivated society.

His eminence stressed that conflicts were wild, savage, barbarian. "Agreement is, on the other hand, wisdom, sagacity, brightness," Sheikh Qabalan noted.

French Foreign Ministry spokesperson Eric Chevalier said his country was awaiting the appointment of ambassadors and the opening of embassies in Beirut and Damascus before the end of the year.

He said that Paris welcomed the establishment of diplomatic relations between Syria and Lebanon and encouraged both countries to work on other pending issues, including controlling and demarcating their borders and finding a solution to the Lebanese missing in Syria.

He added that Paris agreed with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon that the Doha Accord paved the way for progress in the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559.

Meanwhile, An-Nahar daily quoted French sources as saying that Paris was awaiting to see who will be appointed as ambassador because such an appointment would reveal how truthful Syrian authorities are in establishing sound ties with Lebanon.

The sources said that agreement to demarcate the border would open new horizons particularly that such a deal could lead to a solution to the Shebaa Farms area, Kfarshouba hills and the southern border village of Ghajar.

Meanwhile, a European source told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that the most important is to have "normal relations between the two countries," doubting that Syria could establish such ties with Lebanon.

"There will be diplomatic representation between the two countries. But the most important is practicing normal relations…this differs from diplomatic representation," he said.

In a separate development, US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Sison said after meeting Geagea at his residence in Maarab that efforts were still under way to secure an Israeli withdrawal from the Lebanese section of the Israeli-occupied border village of Ghajar.

The status of Ghajar, as well as that of the occupied Shebaa Farms, was also discussed on Thursday between Geagea and United Nations special envoy Michael Williams.

William also met on with former President Amin Gemayel, who said that his Phalange Party had some fresh ideas to resolve the Shebaa Farms issue.