Political differences end in postponing Lebanese presidential elections till March 11

Arab League chief leaves Beirut without solving the Lebanese disputable knots

Moussa: Solving crisis is possible; we advocate Arab initiative

Siniora briefs Arab, foreign leaders about his European tour results

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said "darkness shrouds the Arab Summit" scheduled to be held in Damascus March 29-30 "and for that reason I insist on salvaging the Lebanon situation."

Moussa pointed to the possibility of electing a new president for Lebanon ahead of the summit, saying the last postponement of a parliamentary session was "not necessary."

"This delay came at a time when leaders sat together and agreed on a number of points, except for one or two," Moussa said.

"Electing a President would have helped (resolve) these issues," Moussa said.

Moussa acknowledged that the Hezbollah-led opposition still insists on veto power, a demand rejected by the pro-government ruling majority.

On Lebanon's participation in the Arab summit, Moussa stressed that Lebanon should be invited.

Meanwhile, press reports said Moussa is likely to visit Lebanon ahead of a scheduled parliamentary session March 11 to elect a new president.

The majority has rejected a demand by Hezbollah that the opposition receive a third of the seats in a new 30-member government in order to have veto power over key decisions.

The head of the ruling anti-Syrian majority Saad Hariri said dividing the seats in the cabinet equally giving 10 ministries to the majority, 10 to the opposition and 10 to the president, is a "Syrian inspired recipe".

"Aoun insists on getting veto power in the next cabinet, while Speaker Nabih Berri is promoting the 10+10+10 (formula)," Hariri said.

"Such formula was actually made in Syria," he added.

In another sign of a hardening stance, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and an ally of the ruling majority vowed that the pro- government March 14 alliance would not make any concessions.

"We are waiting for Moussa's return hoping that he would have more luck this time in convincing the other party to head to parliament and elect a new president," Geagea said.

Two previous sessions between Moussa, Aoun, former president Amin Gemayel and Hariri failed to break a presidential election deadlock.

Moussa said the quartet meeting will build on what had been agreed upon during the last sessions, adding that other differences had to be discussed also.

Moussa expressed hope that he would succeed in bringing the feuding leaders' positions closer "for the best interest of the country and the region and for the benefit of the upcoming Arab summit."

Moussa's assistant Hisham Youssef, who arrived in Beirut, said: "The situation has become very tense and therefore quick action is needed."

Moussa has failed to convince the Lebanese parties to accept an Arab plan which was endorsed in Cairo on January 6.

The three-point plan aims to immediately elect Lebanese Army Commander General Michel Suleiman president and form a government of national unity and draft a new electoral law.

The Lebanese presidency has been vacant since former president Emile Lahoud ended his term on November 23, and the sharply divided Lebanese parliament has delayed the elections 14 times without a consensus.

Army commander General Michel Suleiman warned that unless there was nationwide consensus, he would quit the presidential race.

The Lebanese daily As Safir quoted the army chief as telling visitors that he would not allow himself to become what he called a "confrontational" candidate.

Suleiman insisted that if there was no national consensus on him and that if "some" sought to resort to elections by simple majority "by one-plus-half for example, I will say 'no' and apologize."

This was a reference to the pro-government ruling on the March 14 alliance that has vowed to use its constitutional right to elect Suleiman president by a simple majority.

"If they adopted the half-plus-one option, I will resign from the military command," Suleiman said.

Moussa has hosted a lengthy meeting between rival Lebanese political parties amid no signs of a breakthrough in the three-month presidential crisis.

The quartet talks at parliament building in downtown Beirut came after a series of separate meetings the Arab League chief held with the warring leaders upon arrival in Beirut.

The meeting between former President Amin Gemayel and MP Saad Hariri from the ruling majority and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun representing the Hezbollah-led opposition got underway at 8 pm Sunday and ended around midnight.

Sources said there were indications that a solution for the presidential impasse was still remote as the gap between the pro-government ruling majority and the opposition remained wide.

They said the only breakthrough was that all parties agreed to resume talks.

Discussions, nevertheless, were constructive, one source told the daily An Nahar. "But this does not mean that a breakthrough was achieved."

The source said Moussa proposed an "advanced document" that covered a summary of statements made by the rival leaders. The document was supported by the opposition's latest proposal that was presented to Moussa's assistant Hisham Youssef.

Moussa has reportedly met privately with Hariri at the end of the quartet talks.

Moussa arrived in Beirut at 2:35 pm and went straight into a meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. No statements were made after the hour-long talks in Ain al-Tineh.

He then met with Hariri in Qoreitem before going to the Grand Serail where he met with Premier Fouad Siniora.

Moussa also held private talks with Aoun at parliament building ahead of the quartet meeting.

His talks with the various political leaders focused on efforts to implement a three-point Arab plan to solve Lebanon's deepening political crisis.

So far his shuttles have been unsuccessful and the political tensions have on occasion boiled over into street clashes in Beirut, amid ominous warnings by some of renewed civil strife.

Siniora, in a phone call with Kuwait's deputy prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Mohammad Sabah Al-Sabah, strongly condemned threats to attack Kuwait embassy in Beirut earlier.

Siniora said the Lebanese government and people were condemning the threat to attack the Kuwaiti embassy with missile, foreign ministry sources said. 'What harms Kuwait and its people is harming Lebanon and its people,' the prime minister asserted.

Siniora said Lebanon was backing Kuwait in all circumstances, and stressed that Lebanese security authorities 'will never allow any threat to be directed towards the (Kuwaiti) embassy building or the diplomats or Kuwaiti citizens in Lebanon.'

Siniora assured Sheikh Mohammad that he instructed all authorities concerned to investigate the matter and to work on boosting security around the Kuwaiti embassy and Kuwaiti interests in Lebanon.

Sheikh Mohammad, meanwhile, praised Siniora's personal attention to the matter and said he was pleased with the rapid reaction of the Lebanese security authorities in dealing with this threat.

Sheikh Mohammad said relations between Kuwait and Lebanon were solid and would not be affected 'by behaviors of elements or individuals who attempted to undermine this distinguished relation.'

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has authorized Prosecutor-General Saeed Mirza and Nasri Khoury, head of the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council, to carry out the necessary contacts with Damascus to keep Lebanon informed about progress of the probe into Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh's killing.

Under the agreement signed between Lebanon and Syria, Lebanon can stay up-to-date on the latest news on the judicial investigation taking place in Damascus "since the person killed is Lebanese."

Bahrain's foreign ministry has cautioned its citizens against travel to Lebanon.

"Bahrain has no diplomatic missions in Lebanon. Therefore it will be difficult to avoid a speedy evacuation of Bahraini citizens if any form of violence erupts," said a statement issued by Bahrain's foreign ministry.

The move followed similar measures taken by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for security reasons.

The Kuwaiti embassy in Beirut was evacuated after an anonymous caller threatened to rocket the compound, prompting the Kuwaiti foreign ministry to advise its citizens to reconsider traveling to Lebanon.

The threat came a day after four Kuwaiti lawyers filed a lawsuit against two Shiite MPs for holding a rally to mourn top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, blamed for hijacking a Kuwaiti jetliner.

It also came amid escalated tension in Lebanon and amid threats of attacks against Israel by Hezbollah after Mughniyeh's killing in Damascus.

The edgy situation has also prompted the French embassy to order its cultural centers in Sidon and Tripoli to shut down for security concerns.

The leader Walid Jumblatt asked in his weekly position to Progressive Socialist Party’s mouthpiece Al-Anbaa “Is it not enough the price paid by the Lebanese people in settlement of the bills of regional regimes which only seek their own interests?”

No matter how high the voices of threat and menaces of open or anticipatory wars are raised, even if their descriptions and meanings differed, reaching a comprehensive national defense strategy, in which weapons are under the command of the Lebanese army and the Lebanese authority will be the sole authority having control over weapons as is the case in countries all over the world, is deemed inevitable.

In fact, no country in the world accepts to have armed factions not under its control, waging wars against enemies whenever and however they may wish to do so, as if they are the only ones running the country’s affairs.

Retracting or clarifying the concept of open war is not enough. In Lebanon, we have liberated our land and forced out the Israeli occupation more than once. Moreover, we have fulfilled our national and patriotic duty in a perfect manner. At this point, we do not want to be involved in international terrorist or non-terrorist wars that could drag us into endless conflicts on our land. The open war can be averted through the defense strategy and the handover of POWs still alive or the body parts of the deceased to the legitimate authority in order to negotiate this file through the United Nations.

The Lebanese people cannot accept that some parties revenge their martyrs in an open war all over the world starting from their own country, always distinguished by its diversified democratic regime and for which they made great sacrifices for decades. Can we accept the logic of Lebanon, “The Arena” for another fifty years? “Is it not enough the price which the Lebanese people have paid so far in settlement of the bills of regional regimes, which only seek their own interests?“, he asked.

They talk about destroying and annihilating Israel, and we tell them that it will disappear as a result of the demography, the racism, the occupation, the settlement and the unjust hostility. However, truly odd is the retraction, even the contradiction in the speech of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Thus, where is the real personality of Nasrallah and what is his true role? Is he not the overlord of the resistance characterized in days of yore by a unifying Arab-Islamic halo and turned nowadays into a counter for demonstrators?

At the outset, why quelling a Shiite national referential authority likes the late Imam Mohammad Made Shamseddine? Is it because he confirmed the Lebanese national appurtenance for the Shiite confession and invited them to integrate in the nation? Is it because he talked in his wills about a diversified democratic Lebanon and the necessity to preserve it and protect its prevailing coexistence formula?

Undoubtedly, we are amidst contradictory plans with the ideology of the Imam Shameseddine and the ideology of the Imam Moussa Al Sadr, because they want to drag Lebanon into open wars. Did not one of their low ranking officials talk about occupying downtown Beirut, hence reflecting great animosity against the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his historic reconstruction achievements?

These wars are basically present at the domestic level by emptying the institutions, suspending the Constitution, paralyzing political life and occupying the downtown.