Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques discusses with Palestinian PM recent developments

Lebanese Premier denies presence of U.S. warship in territorial waters, asks Washington for "clarifications" on destroyer USS Cole

GCC FMs urge int'l community to move to protect Palestinians

Israel pushes army into Gaza, scores of Palestinians killed

Abu Mazen: What is going on in Gaza is more than "Holocaust"

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his government did not ask Washington to send a U.S. warship to the waters off Lebanon, which is embroiled in a deep political crisis.

"We did not ask anyone to send warships," Siniora said in a speech during a meeting with Arab ambassadors that was broadcast live on television, adding that no US warship was in "Lebanese waters."

"The Lebanese navy and UNIFIL naval forces, which are helping Lebanon secure its maritime borders, are the only ones" in Lebanese territorial waters, Siniora said in reference to United Nations peacekeepers.

Washington said it had sent the USS Cole guided-missile destroyer to waters off Lebanon and that the vessel was already in the eastern Mediterranean.

The deployment was "a show of support for regional stability" because of "concern about the situation in Lebanon," a US official said on condition of anonymity, declining to say that the show of force was aimed at Syria or Iran.

Before Friday's speech Siniora also summoned the US charge d'affaires to ask her for "clarifications" about the dispatch of the USS Cole, a government source told AFP.

"The prime minister summoned Mrs. Michele Sison to ask her to clarify the presence of the USS Cole" in the Mediterranean, the source said. "Mrs. Sison assured him that the warship was in international territorial waters and had been dispatched to guarantee regional stability," the source added.

Lebanon has been without a president since last November amid political feuding between the Western-backed ruling parliamentary majority and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.

The majority accuses Syria of blocking efforts to elect a new president in Lebanon, which was under Syrian military domination for 29 years until Damascus withdrew its troops in April 2005.

The Shiite militant movement Hezbollah, which leads the opposition, has slammed Washington's decision to send a warship to the region as military interference in Lebanese affairs.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit accused the Lebanese opposition on Sunday of rejecting the three-point Arab initiative to end Lebanon's political crisis.

Abul-Gheit said the opposition was responsible for creating obstacles to implementing the initiative. Meanwhile, Arab League chief Amr Moussa met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Sunday in an effort to facilitate the success of an upcoming Arab summit, scheduled for March 29-30 in Damascus. "The Arab summit will not be postponed despite tense inter-Arab relations," Moussa said after meeting Mubarak.

Before heading to Cairo, Moussa met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Saturday to make arrangements for the summit.

"I discussed with President Assad the dangerous problems that strained inter-Arab relations," Moussa said in a joint news conference with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem after meeting Assad.

"We both agreed that all Arab parties want the summit to succeed," he added.

The Damascus summit is at stake as a number of Arab countries accuse Syrian of not facilitating the election of a new president in Lebanon. Mubarak, Saudi King Abdullah, and other Arab leaders are not likely to take participate unless Lebanon's crisis is resolved.

Moallem criticized Arab countries which were tying their participation in the summit to the Lebanese crisis.

"This is an ordinary Arab League summit. It is not an exceptional one that is dedicated to discussing the Lebanese crisis," Moallem said. He added that all Arab countries, including Lebanon, would be invited to the summit.

Syria has so far sent out invitations to all member states except Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Mohammad Shatah, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's adviser, said on Sunday that the government is the only party in charge of deciding who to represent Lebanon in the summit.

Shatah played down the possibility that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri would represent Lebanon at the summit.

He added that "the government may choose the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, "to represent the country."

Suleiman is tipped to become Lebanon's new head of state. In the news conference on Saturday, Moallem accused the US of undermining a solution to Lebanon's crisis by its recent deployment of the USS Cole off the Lebanese coast. Washington said on Thursday it had sent the destroyer to waters off Lebanon, amid concern over regional stability and Lebanon's protracted political crisis.

"The policies adopted by the US administration in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan are wrong. This show of force will not lead, as they pretend, to stability," Moallem said.

He also accused the US of sending the warship to signal its rejection of the Arab League plan to solve the Lebanese crisis.

"The US cannot impose a solution on Lebanon ... The solution in Lebanon will be within the framework of the Arab initiative, the efforts of Amr Moussa and understanding between the Lebanese people," he added.

Moussa has been mediating between feuding Lebanese politicians to spur them to elect a new president. Last week he said the two sides have agreed on electing Suleiman as president, but are still at odds over the make-up of a new government.

However, Berri said late Friday that the main problem was the electoral law. Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud left office in late November.

The Lebanese Parliament has failed on 15 occasions to elect a successor for Lahoud. Parliament is due to meet on March 11 in a fresh attempt. Also on Saturday, foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulg Cooperation Council urged Lebanese lawmakers to head to Parliament and elect a president on March 11.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, Abdulaziz Khoja, met with Siniora to explain the recent call by Saudi Arabia for its citizens to leave Lebanon.

Khoja told the Saudi-owned Al-Hayat newspaper on Sunday that the call was prompted by a stray bullet that struck a Saudi diplomat's car in Beirut. Khoja said the bullet hit the back of the vehicle as the diplomat was riding with his family.

"The Saudi diplomat and his family were not hurt, but the bullet struck the car by mistake," he added.

The ambassador did not specify when the incident occurred, but a Lebanese police official said the car was accidentally hit Friday night by celebratory gunfire that erupted during a televised interview with the Parliament Speaker.

Three Lebanese citizens were lightly injured in the shooting, added the police official, who spoke on condition that he not be identified. Khoja said the incident prompted the Saudi Embassy in Beirut to urge its citizens on Saturday to be vigilant or evacuate the country as soon as possible.

Several Saudi citizens in Lebanon also reported receiving calls or mobile text messages from their embassy Saturday, urging them to leave the country.

One citizen said he was told by the embassy that women and children in particular were advised to leave within 48 hours.

Saudi Arabia issued an advisory on February 18 for its citizens to avoid traveling to Lebanon, citing unstable security conditions.

Lebanese acting Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri said the Saudi warning was based on "specific threats" received by its embassy in Beirut. "The Saudis have specific reasons. They have received specific threats," Mitri told LBC television, though he did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Lebanon Abdulaal al-Qenai on Saturday denied that the embassy has issued a statement requesting Kuwaiti nationals to leave Lebanon.

The ambassador pointed to the statement of the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry that was issued last week, which advised Kuwaiti nationals to exercise caution while in Lebanon.

Speaker Nabih Berri accused the United States on Friday of being against the recent Arab initiative to end Lebanon's ongoing crisis. Speaking in an interview broadcast by ANB satellite television late Friday, Berri quoted a senior French official as having told Lebanon's ambassador to Paris that the US was not in favor of implementing the Arab initiative, which calls for the election of a president, the formation of a unity government and agreement on a new electoral law.

Berri also accused the US of deploying the USS Cole and other warships to the Eastern Mediterranean to support and cover up Israel's deadly attacks in the Gaza Strip.

"It they want to send a message to Syria, they could have done so by deploying near Syrian shores," Berri said. While stressing that an inter-Arab agreement is the key to a settlement in Lebanon, the speaker accused the parliamentary majority of obstructing an Arab-sponsored settlement to the Lebanese crisis by rejecting adoption of the 1960 electoral law for the 2009 legislative polls.

"We thought the real problem was in how to distribute seats in the next government, but we eventually discovered that the ruling coalition was against the 1960 electoral law more than anything else," Berri said.

He added that the ruling March 14 Forces coalition wants to promote an electoral law that divides the country into "sectarian constituencies." "They want Christians to elect Christians and Muslims to elect Muslims and so forth," the speaker said.

Berri said the opposition was ready to accept the 1960 electoral law or any other law that promotes bigger and not smaller constituencies.

He vowed to do his best to ensure the success of the Arab initiative ahead of the upcoming Arab League summit in Damascus, which some member states have indicated they will boycott if there is no progress in resolving the impasse in Lebanon.

Berri also said that improving relations between one of those states, Saudi Arabia, and Syria was essential - not just to the Lebanese situation but also to other Middle East problems like the continuing war in Iraq.

"But if we fail to make it before the summit, there will be a new approach to the Lebanese crisis," he said.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz held a meeting at his ranch here today with Palestinian Premier Dr. Salam Khalid Fayyadh.

At the outset of the audience, Dr. Fayyadh conveyed to the Monarch the greetings of President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestinian National Authority and Chairman of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization.

The Palestinian premier expressed his thanks to and appreciation of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques for his permanent interest in the Palestinian cause and his keenness on ending the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of the Israeli occupation and on enabling them to regain all their usurped rights.

They also discussed the developments of the Palestinian issue and the importance of achieving a just and comprehensive solution that ensures the set-up of a Palestinian independent state on the Palestinian national land with Al-Quds as its capital. The audience was attended by Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Riyadh region; Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Dr. Jubarah bin Eid Al-Suraisri, Minister of Transport and Jamal Abdullatif Al-Shobaki, Palestinian Ambassador of to the Kingdom.

King Abdullah has sent a message to President Mohammed Hosni Mubarak of Egypt dealing with the developments in the region. The message was delivered to the President by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs, during an audience in Cairo.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques also received a message from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

The message was delivered to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques by German Ambassador to the Kingdom Juergen Krieghoff during an audience at the Royal Court at Al-Yamamah Palace.

The Ambassador conveyed the greetings of the Chancellor to the King. In turn, the Monarch sent his greetings to the Chancellor.

The audience was attended by Prince Miqren bin Abdulaziz, Chief of General Intelligence; Prince Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz, Adviser to the King; Prince Dr. Bandar bin Salman bin Mohammed Al Saud, Adviser to the King; and Abdulmohsen bin Abdulaziz Al-Tuwaijeri, Adviser to the King.

King Abdullah II of Jordan told an audience at Princeton University on Friday that this is the year to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestinians and achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East.

His message at a 20-minute speech sponsored by Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs was similar to the one he delivered to a joint session of Congress last year. It's also what he'll likely tell President Bush when he meets with him in the White House on Tuesday.

Abdullah said resolving that conflict is more important to the future of the Middle East than any other issue, including the war in Iraq.

"We are in the best possible position to resolve 60 years of conflict between Israel and Palestine," he said, adding that the United States is in a position to help resolve some complicated issues with President Bush in office.

"It will be two or three years before a new American president will be willing to look at the Middle East," Abdullah said.

It's important, he said, that the world's Arab and Muslim states have committed to a peace process at the moment. And by agreeing soon to allow a Palestinian state, Israel could quickly gain diplomatic and trade relationships with 57 countries that now refuse to deal with the nation.

While Israel and Palestinian leaders might agree on most issues, there are some that the international community — and especially the United States — will need to help resolve.

"If we miss today's opportunities, peace will be set back, perhaps for decades," he said. "Extremists will continue to act. The forces for moderation and positive change will weaken. Global divisions will not only endure but also possibly deepen."

King Abdullah II, now 46, took the throne in Jordan in 1999 after his father, King Hussein died. Like his father, he is seen as a moderate in the Middle East.

Abdullah has been credited with modernizing the nation's economy over the past nine years, as it has joined the World Trade Organization. Jordan borders Israel, the West Bank, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

His nation recently began supplying electricity to the West Bank city of Jericho. He did not mention that Friday, but in recent days, Abdullah has said the purpose is humanitarian, not to gain a foothold in territory once controlled by Jordan. That land, he said, should be part of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday denounced a deadly Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 32 people as "more than a holocaust."

"It's very regrettable that what is happening is more than a holocaust. We tell the world to see with its own eyes and judge for itself what is happening and who is carrying out international terrorism," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah.

He appeared to be referring to remarks made by Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai, who used the Hebrew word "shoah" -- generally used only for the Nazi Holocaust -- in remarks to army radio on Friday.

"By intensifying the rocket fire and extending their reach (Gaza militants) are bringing onto themselves a worse catastrophe (shoah) as we will use all means to defend ourselves," Vilnai said.

"It is regrettable that Israel uses this word, banned for more than 60 years, the word 'holocaust,' and we demand that the world respond," Abbas said. But Vilnai's spokesman took strong exception to media reports that quoted the minister calling for a "Holocaust" in Gaza.

"The minister used the Hebrew term 'shoah' which means 'catastrophe' and in this context does not refer to the 'the Shoah' -- the Holocaust," Eytan Guinsburg said on Friday.

Abbas meanwhile called for "international protection for the Palestinian people" while his office said he had contacted several world leaders to press for an end to the Israeli assault.

"It is unthinkable that Israel's reaction to Palestinian rocket attacks -- which we condemn -- can be so terrible and frightening," Abbas said, adding that the attacks were targeting "innocent women, children and old people."

Saturday's Israeli assault on northern Gaza killed 32 people, including at least seven civilians and 12 militants, according to local medics, making it the deadliest operation in the Hamas-ruled territory in more than a year.