Saudi Arabia is not biased in favor of any of Lebanese parties, rejects interference in matters conflicting with its principles

Moussa's mission to Lebanon failed, fears grow over Lebanese crisis repercussions on Arab League

General Michel Sleiman: Sedition is red line, we won't quit our role

Lebanese Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis said the majority is supporting Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa’s suggestion for the formation of the forthcoming government.

“It is much better for Moussa to return to Lebanon with a clear decision from the Arab foreign ministers over the interpretation of the Arab initiative,” Sarkis told the Saudi daily Okaz.

Commenting on the foreign ministers’ statement on the Arab initiative, Sarkis said, “We were expecting the ministers to put things in a clear way and point out the party obstructing the elections.”

“Yet, we hope that Moussa returns to Lebanon to implement the decision made over the election of Army Commander General Michel Sleiman and then the establishment of a national-unity government,” Sarkis said.

He also noted that March 14 has accepted the 7-10-13 formula for the make-up of the coming cabinet. “Yet the opposition is still insisting on the 10-10-10,” he noted.

On the other hand, officials from three Lebanese political parties met in Beirut with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa to talk about the stalled presidential elections.

The gathering of Future Bloc leader Saad Al-Hariri, Phalange Party Chief Amin Gemayel, and Change and Reform Bloc Head Michel Aoun was in line with Moussa's attempts to secure Arab initiatives to bring Lebanon out of a political crisis.

Moussa later met with Parliament speaker Nabih Berri to discuss the outcome of his meeting with the opposition and majority political leaders. The sides failed to approve a plan to resolve a standoff on electing a new president, a statement from Berri's office said.

Several Lebanese newspapers were skeptical of Moussa's efforts.

"Moussa's new efforts for the Arab initiative come at a time of depression and doubtfulness towards the efficiency of the whole process, internal disputes and Arab disagreement on how to help Lebanon paint a grim picture of the future," the Lebanese newspaper Annahar said.

Newspapers also said Moussa's efforts would create excuses for postponing Monday's parliamentary session on electing a national unity government.

Actually, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa held lengthy talks with leaders of feuding Lebanese factions Friday in an effort to work out a settlement to the ongoing political crisis, only to announce that further talks are needed.

Moussa, who flew in Thursday, held four hours of talks at Parliament with opposition representative, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, and majority representatives, ex-President Amin Gemayel and Mustaqbal Movement leader said Hariri.

He also held separate talks later with Premier Fouad Siniora and Parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

Following the quartet talks at the house, Moussa said: "An agreement was reached on some points, but we need to have more discussion."

"We need to meet again," Moussa added.

Moussa said he has to leave Lebanon, pledging that he would return at a later date for further talks.

However, the state-run National News Agency quoted sources close to Berri as saying after the talks with Moussa that the Arab League chief has decided to stay in Lebanon and proceed with his mission.

No reason was given for the conflicting decisions, however.

Berri's sources said Moussa was hoping to work out an agreement between the opposition and majority on the formation of National Unity Government, which if achieved, could facilitate the election on Monday of Army Commander Gen. Michel Sleiman president.

Moussa, talking to reporters upon arrival at Beirut airport Thursday, said Sleiman remains a consensus candidate for president.

After the quartet meeting at Parliament, Moussa was asked if he carried a new interpretation of the Arab initiative. He said: "There are no two interpretations of the Arab initiative."

He stressed that Sleiman "is still the consensus candidate and participants in today's meeting agree to this."

Lebanese leaders and diplomatic sources are increasingly optimistic that Lebanon’s political crisis might be close to solution. Key to this is Saudi Arabia’s progressively more important role.

After meeting Lebanon’s National Assembly Speaker Nabih Berri, President Emile Lahoud and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador in Beirut, Abdulaziz Khojah, is returning home to refer about his talks. In Riyadh he will find Lebanon’s majority bloc leader Saad Hariri, and General Michel Aoun, who heads a Christian party that is in the opposition alliance headed by Hezbollah.

Sources close to Berri, who heads the opposition Amal party, told The Daily Star that he and Saad Hariri are coordinating on the process of “announcing the solution,” and that he will likely hold a news conference in the next few days.

“There is a deadline set for the end of this week to announce a solution at the insistence of Saudi King Abdullah, heavy insistence,” Arafat Hijjazi, a close adviser to Berri, told the paper.

Lebanon’s Arabic daily As-Safir reports that there are “48 hours of contacts with Lebanon rivals to agree before calling them to Saudi Arabia.”

French-language daily L’Orient Le Jour writes “that the principle of a solution seems to have been agreed,” adding however that “there is no ready made solution according to diplomatic sources.” What is more, “the opposition is not hiding its satisfaction, which indicates that it believes that the agreement is favorable to it,” whilst “Saad Hariri, Walid Jumblatt and Samir Geagea maintain a prudent silence”.

Members of Lebanon's ruling coalition called Wednesday for a heavy turnout at a demonstration on February 14 to mark the third anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination. After a meeting chaired by the slain premier's son, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, at the family residence in the upscale Beirut neighborhood of Qoreitem, the March 14 Forces announced that the rally would begin at 10 a.m. at Martyrs Square in the capital.

Reading from a joint statement after the meeting, former President Amin Gemayel called on "all the Lebanese" to participate in the gathering, adding that those who attended would be expressing support for democracy, sovereignty and independence in the same place where protests erupted in 2005 after Hariri's assassination.

Those protests, coupled with international pressure, led eventually to the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon after a 29-year presence. Damascus was widely blamed for the slaying, although it has consistently denied any involvement.

"On February 14, the Lebanese will say through their heavy participation that they do not relinquish their demands for truth and justice ... that they do not relinquish their project to build a state," Gemayel said.

He then declared that by returning to Martyrs Square, participants would demonstrate that "assassinating Lebanon will not come to pass, civil war will not come to pass and the [Special Tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination] is coming for sure and the presidency will not remain vacant."

He said the Lebanese refuse to be bargaining chips in "non-Arab hands," a reference to Iran, which along with Syria supports the opposition March 8 camp and which he described as having "spread its tentacles in Lebanon and across the region."

Apart from Arab countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, March 14 also enjoys the backing of Western powers like France and the United States.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, who arrived in Beirut Friday to resume his mediation efforts in the Lebanese power struggle, said the body "remains clear and impartial."

Moussa said he would seek to bring majority and opposition MPs together in Parliament, expressing optimism that their election of a new president for the country - postponed 13 times since the end of Emile Lahoud's term at midnight on November 23, 2007 - would take place "as soon as possible."

Filling the presidency is the first of three points in an Arab League proposal to end the Lebanese impasse. The others would be to form a government of national unity and agree on a new parliamentary election law.

On how seats would be accorded in a power-sharing Cabinet, Moussa told As-Safir daily that while he did not object to any of the formulas put forward by either camp, it was the rival parties themselves who had to agree. Moussa, who has been accused of favoring the ruling coalition, insisted that he works "for God and for Lebanon" and not on behalf of any party.

The Arab League chief said his efforts were aimed solely at preserving Lebanese interests, which he described as being part and parcel of Arab interests.

"We want Lebanon's MPs to elect a new president and to see the formation of a new government in which all parties are represented," Moussa said.

"We do not deny that Syria has major interests in Lebanon," he added, "but we have warned the Lebanese repeatedly that any delay in rescuing their country could turn it into a stage on which regional and international struggles play out."

Also denying charges of favoring March 14, Saudi Ambassador Abdulaziz Khojah lamented what he called "inaccuracies" in local media reports concerning Riyadh's political stance in Lebanon.

"A basic foundation of Saudi policy is noninterference in the internal affairs of any other country and what the kingdom is doing in Lebanon is out of concern for the Lebanese state and to encourage politicians to have a dialogue and achieve consensus to find a suitable solution," Khojah said. "The kingdom has been and remains at equal distance from all parties and announces its position openly and clearly and its sole concern is for the Lebanese to transcend this crisis and to achieve peace and harmony," he added.

Also Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri hosted talks in Ain al-Tineh with Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reda Shibani to discuss developments in Lebanon and the region. After the meeting Shibani reaffirmed his country's support for Moussa's mediation efforts.

Change and Reform MP Michel Murr met Wednesday with Norwegian Charge d'Affaires Aud Lise Norheim, whose country has avoided taking sides in the dispute, and her French counterpart, Andre Parant, whose government has backed March 14. Murr asked both envoys to assist Moussa's mission.

Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Abdulaziz Khojah received in Beirut former Lebanese representative Tammam Salam.

During the meeting, they discussed the current situation in Lebanon and the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Dr. Abdulaziz Khojah described reports by some media on positions attributed to Saudi Arabian as inaccurate.

In a statement he said, "One of the Saudi firm policies is non-interference in the internal affairs of any country and what is carried out by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Lebanon is based on care for Lebanon, the state, and to encourage officials to conduct dialogue, rapprochement and find the required solutions."

He added, "The kingdom has been and still is at one distance from all. It announces its positions frankly and clearly. Its only concern is to pass this crisis so that the Lebanese brethren with all their groups and sects can enjoy peace and concord."

The ambassador stated that the kingdom always seeks to unify Arabs and eliminate differences and not promote them. Its position is based on the principle of Arab brotherliness and common national destiny, he said.

The ambassador stated that it is inadmissible to involve the kingdom in issues that contradict its political principles. The history of the Saudi sound and balanced policy bears witness to this, he added.

Army Commander Gen. Michel Sleiman said the force unity is deeper than ever, stressing that neutrality regarding political differences doesn't mean hampering the army's mission of maintaining law and order.

Sleiman held three days of meetings with commanders of major military units at his headquarters in suburban Yarze, east of Beirut.

He told the officers that "the army's unity is the real guarantee for maintaining the nation's unity, its security and stability.

"This unity is now deeper and stronger after it had been baptized by the blood of martyrs and the sweat of troops through the most difficult and toughest experiences," the general said.

He noted that the army has a "national assignment" to protect the nation and the people.

Sleiman recalled that the army has succeeded in providing security for the mass demonstrations that followed the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and in filling in the vacuum resulting from the withdrawal of the Syrian army.

One of the army's accomplishments sited by Sleiman was "the joint resistance with the people against the Israeli aggression in July 2006" in addition to deploying along the southern borders and preventing the outbreak of internal feud during disturbances in January 2007.

"What has been accomplished during all those stages was the outcome of this relationship that should persist, irrespective of political complications … for it is the only way to salvage the nation," he added.

Sleiman expressed "full confidence" in the military judiciary, noting that investigations carried out by the army in recent riots are "serious and transparent and prove commitment of the military establishment to accountability."

He noted that a recent rotation of units was a "mere internal measure within the military establishment and has no political motives.