Saudi ambassador to Lebanon says ordeal about to end

Ambassador Kattan: We can't ask Lebanese majority to abandon its rights

Egypt asserts foreign ministers meeting or extraordinary summit to settle Lebanese crisis under discussion

Michel Suleiman says won't wait for presidency, step down next August

Israel denies plans to wage war against Syria

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud chaired the Cabinet's session at Al-Yamamah Palace.

At the outset of the session, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques briefed the Cabinet on the meetings and communications he held over the previous days with a number of leaders of countries, their envoys and representatives of international organizations on bilateral relations, regional issues and international affairs.

The Monarch affirmed the Kingdom's permanent stand in serving its national interests, working for the unity of Arab action, supporting joint Islamic action institutions, and adhering to the principles of human morality that unite peoples, cultures and religions.

In a statement to Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, the Minister of Culture and Information Iyad bin Amin Madani said that the Cabinet stressed in this context the Kingdom's positions with regard to Arab affairs and the necessity of implementing the decision of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Arab League pertaining to the Lebanese affairs with respect for Arab unanimity, affirmation of the ability of the Arab states to work independently, and protection of the Lebanese arena against foreign influence.

The Cabinet stressed that dealing with the current Palestinian situation stems from the ability of Palestinian leaders to agree on a formula for a national unity government; Arab adherence to the Arab peace initiative having an Arab clear stance towards the peaceful solution of the Palestinian issue; pointing out the pitfalls of other solution formulas that have not succeeded so far except for giving the opportunity and time to Israel to reinforce its settling occupation in the rest of the Palestinian territories.

It also emanates from the recognition of leading countries that the Palestinian issue is a global responsibility, resting primarily on the permanent members at the United Nations Security Council by virtue of its direct responsibility for the resolutions of the international legitimacy and the rights of states and communities. It also particularly hinges on the states that emphasize their alliance with Israel as these states have declared principles calling for human rights, freedom of peoples, and the rejection of racism, political persecution and social oppression.

The Minister noted that the Cabinet reviewed a number of items on its agenda and issued the following decisions:

The Cabinet decided that the state bear the difference between the fee category applied under GCC unified customs tariff and the protection fee category currently applied in the Kingdom. This shall include 180 major food stuffs and some necessary construction and consuming materials for a period of three years.

The Cabinet approved licensing Turkish Ziraat Bank to open a branch in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; provided that the bank, when practicing banking and investment activities, shall abide by Bank Control System, Companies System, Foreign Investment System and other regulations and instructions applied in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency shall coordinate with the bank to complete the necessary procedures.

The Cabinet approved the annual report of the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma'aden) for the period ending on 31/12/2005, the Consolidated Financial Statements and the audit report on the final accounts for the fiscal year ending on 31/12/2005.

The Cabinet authorized the Minister of Agriculture to conclude an operational program in the field of veterinary services and livestock between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Sudan through the Saudi-Sudanese Joint Commission.

The Cabinet approved the controls regarding private schools benefiting from lands of educational facilities owned by the private sector.

The Cabinet reviewed a report on work progress in implementing projects of the Ministry of Health (Primary Health Care Buildings) funded by the surplus budget revenues for the fiscal years 1424/1425H. and 1425/1426H. The number of these projects is 1242 throughout the Kingdom. The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques directed to expedite implementation of these projects.

The Cabinet approved a number of appointments as follows:

1- Dr. Naif bin Hishal bin Abdulmohsen Al-Romi as Undersecretary for Educational Development, Boys Education division, at the Ministry of Education.

2- Transferring Mohammed bin Ibrahim bin Abdullah Al-Muhaisin from Director General of the Office of the Minister of State at the Secretariat General of the Cabinet and appointing him as Administrative Adviser at the Secretariat General of the Supreme Council for Petroleum and Minerals Affairs.

3- Fahd bin Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al-Bakr as Administrative Adviser at the Ministry of Defense and Aviation.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, David T. Johnson, visited Beirut March 30 and 31. He held meetings with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Minister of Interior and Municipal Affairs Hassan Sabaa, Director General of the Internal Security Forces, Achraf Rifi, Director General of General Security, Wafiq Jazzine, and Internal Security Forces (ISF) General Robert Jabbour. During his visit, Assistant Secretary Johnson reaffirmed the United States’ steadfast support of Lebanon and discussed the ongoing $60 million ISF assistance program, which is helping the ISF enforce the rule of law and protect the Lebanese people within their sovereign state

. Russia's ambassador to Lebanon, Sergey Bukin, warned against foreign meddling in Lebanese affairs, echoing an earlier statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin."

There is a need to elect a new president for Lebanon as soon as possible. The Arab initiative on Lebanon is still there and it is backed by the Arab and international community," he said.

Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative at the Arab League, Ambassador Ahmad Abdulaziz Kattan asked “Are we to go to the majority and request it to relinquish the rights that were granted to it by the ballot boxes?”

The day after the Arab summit, Algerian President Abdulaziz Bouteflika arrived in Cairo for a tête-à-tête with President Mubarak. Bouteflika, informed sources affirm, promised the Damascus summit to test the waters for reconciliation in Cairo. However, the Algerian president's loose proposal for a limited Arab summit that could bring together the heads of state of Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- among others -- was not embraced.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri along with MPs Yassine Jabre and Walid Khoury visited the Greek capital on Friday for the fourth Euro-Mediterranean general parliamentary meeting. During the gathering presided over by the speaker of the Greek Parliament, Dimitris Sioufas, the main parties discussed Euro-Mediterranean parliaments' role "in serving different.

Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis renewed his call for the election of a Lebanese president as a national priority adding that “there should be no reason not to elect the new president.”

“We must implement the Arab initiative as it is, starting with the election of a President of the Republic and the formation of a new government,” Sarkis said.

Army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman said he would step down next August as commander of the military and expressed resentment over the continued bickering on his nomination for the presidency.

"I'm tired of the ongoing bickering over my name as a consensus presidential candidate," Suleiman said in an interview with As Safir daily.

"If one side nominates me, the other objects. If one country backs my nomination, other countries object…Every time we make a step forward, we find ourselves" facing more demands, he said.

The election of a president has reached a point where it "needs to cross mountains of conditions and counter conditions…all that at the expense of the presidential vacuum," the army chief added.

The military commander said he will "benefit from his annual vacations that have piled up in the past three years to step down on August 21 instead of November 21."

He informed the military council of his "final decision" of his intended retirement three months before the end of his term, he told As Safir.

"I have no intention of extending my term. I did my job the best I could and preserved the unity of the military institution during the hardest times," he added.

"The Army has succeeded in defending the country against occupation and terrorism and safeguarded internal peace and stability and we will not throw away these achievements," Suleiman stressed.

The Army chief made clear in his interview that if his retirement would "facilitate choosing another consensus candidate then I will support such efforts with all the power I have and I will never be an obstacle."

Suleiman ruled out the possibility of a new Israeli war but stressed that the Lebanese army would defend Lebanon if such an attack took place.

Suleiman also rejected rumors that summer 2008 will be shaky, warning from attempts to target Lebanon's tourism season.

"Had we had stability we would have taken advantage of Gulf investments," he said.

He also welcomed the 1960 electoral law, yet he ruled out any possibility of taking power in a non-violent military coup.

"Lebanon in not a country of military coups," he said. "All we can do as Lebanese is to keep calm and be patient."

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has dispatched some 20 messages to Syrian President Bashar Assad during the past year to better assess Syria's intentions before the possible resumption of talks between the two countries, according to a senior minister also in the security-political cabinet.

But the same source said Assad's responses did not meet Israeli expectations and Olmert believes that at this time it is not possible to initiate negotiations with Syria.

For his part, the Syrian president blamed Israel for the lack of progress. "Israel has rejected all peace initiatives that have been brought before it during the past three years and has responded with massacres and construction of settlements," he told the Arab League summit which began in Damascus.

According to the senior Israeli minister, most efforts for contact with Syria were made through via Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but also through others, including U.S. congressmen and various European officials.

The messages to Assad included attempts to understand what the agenda of the talks between the two countries would include, and whether Assad was willing to include in the talks his country's ties with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant organizations.

But the answers Israel received - and whose content was not made available to Ha'aretz - were not satisfactory for Israel, according to the senior minister.

"Each one of the envoys returned from Damascus with empty hands", the minister said. "The sense was that Assad is captive in the hands of senior figures of the Syrian regime who are opposed to talks with Israel and are not interested in breaking off the alliance with Iran."

Some of the foreign envoys who met with Assad said that they were surprised to see in his office, alongside photos of his dead father, photographs of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah, which led them to believe that Syria is strongly committed to an alliance with Iran and Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said at a briefing of diplomats ".at the Labor Party's headquarters in Tel Aviv that "in the end, Israel will meet Syria either in the field of battle or in the negotiating table.

"Syria is a weak country with many problems, but under certain conditions Israel will be willing to open the door to it", Barak added. "Israel considers negotiations with Syria and removing Syria from the circle of extremists as central to its policy."

Barak also referred to the situation along the northern border in his meeting with the foreign diplomats and said that the IDF is readying itself for any eventuality. "It would not be a good idea for someone to try something against us at this time", Barak said.

We are following what is going on in the North, the growing strength of Hezbollah with Syrian backing and the developments over the border in Syria. Israel is the most powerful country in the region and this is what enables it to stand on guard but also try to seek [peace] agreements", Barak said.

Minister of National Infrastructures Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said in an interview on Israel Radio that "Israel is making every effort to restore Syria to the negotiating table. The efforts are constant and are being done through common friends.

Ehud Barak warned the Hezbollah not to "test" Israel. "The soldiers of the Israeli army are watching everything that occurs near the frontier with Lebanon and I would not advise anyone to test Israel, which is the strongest country in the region," Barak told public radio. Barak made the remarks while on an inspection tour of the border.

Israel has been on high alert following the end of a 40-day mourning period for top Hezbollah commander Imad Moghniyeh, who was assassinated in a February 12 bombing in Damascus, blamed on the Jewish state.

According to public radio, Barak told parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that "Hezbollah continues to build up arms, with the help of Iran."

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak canceled a trip to Germany because of anticipated provocation from Syria on the death of a Hezbollah leader, sources said.

Barak called off his trip because he expects Syria to release findings of its inquiry into the assassination of Hezbollah leader Imad Moghniyeh and use the report findings to put the terrorist group into a position where it must react to his death, reported DEBKAfile.com, a military intelligence Web site.

Syria has held Israel responsible for Moghniyeh's death in an explosion in February.

Meanwhile, Israel's security cabinet examined the country's war preparedness, also deciding to redistribute bio-chemical masks, the Web site reported. Military sources said intelligence indicated Syria could transfer to Hezbollah chemical or biological warheads.

Military leaders in Damascus were quoted as claiming Israel was preparing to attack Syria and Hezbollah and had ordered a partial call-up of its military reserves.