Egypt urges Lebanon rivals to adopt the Arab initiative

Beirut / Cairo – Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said the deployment of USS Cole warship off Lebanon’s coast “is an indicator to possible repercussions of the Lebanese crisis.” “We should strip foreign powers of their ability to interfere in Lebanese affairs by implementing the Arab initiative for electing a new president and creating a new government ,” Abul Gheit said in an interview with the al-Wafid opposition newspaper to be published on Monday.

Excerpts of the interview were distributed by the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA).

Dispatching the USS Cole missile-guided destroyer to the Mediterranean “is not a good thing … the U.S. fleet has been in the Mediterranean for over 60 years,” said the Egyptian Foreign Minister

“No doubt, the whole thing raised serious concern over stability of the region and its future,” He added.

“Once again we plead with all the factions to behave in a wise manner that could defuse the Lebanese crisis,” Abul Gheit said.

Stressing that the Hezbollah-led opposition has “rejected the Arab initiative,” Abul Gheit said “the Arab initiative is the real exit” out of the crisis.

He said the Majority “accepted the initiative as it is, contrary to the opposition that rejected it.”

Damascus summit

Settling the Lebanese crisis prior to the forthcoming Damascus summit at the end of March is “necessary because its persistence reflects negatively on the summit that should be held in a sound atmosphere.” He said and added that” the Lebanese issue could not be handled at the summit”

He denied any knowledge of relocating the summit from Damascus to Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt and said ” Amr Moussa went to Damascus to finalize the logistical details of the summit and the invitations.

Neither Lebanon nor Saudi Arabia have so far been issued invitations to the summit

Gaza
The Egyptian Minister condemned Israeli attacks in Gaza and called for immediate ceasefire . He also urged Hamas to stop firing rockets at Israel

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora also contacted UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon and him to convene the UN Security council and issue a UN Resolution to stop the fighting in Gaza

In Lebanon Hezbollah supporters staged a demonstration near the Lebanese border with Israel at Kfar Kila village in southern Lebanon to protest the violence in Gaza

US: Warships on routine mission to support stability

US: Warships on routine mission to support stability

Friday, 29 February, 2008 @ 6:19 PM

Beirut – US Charge d’Affaires Michele J. Sison told Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fouad Siniora today that the American ships in the eastern Mediterranean are on routine mission to support regional stability.

Sison ( pictured) stressed that the ships are in International waters and wondered what is all the fuss about.
Siniora summoned the acting US ambassador ( she could not be confirmed as an ambassador until there is a president in Lebanon to receive her papers) to provide an explanation for the US action

According to Local observers the region is witnessing a lot of instability which may have prompted the US action:

1- Escalation of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza . Israel has redoubled its air bombardment and armored raids against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip, and Hamas has intensified and broadened the scope of its missile and rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages.

2- Hezbollah has declared an open war on Israel and vowed to avenge the death of its military commander Imad Mughniyeh. Hezbollah in the past has also threatened to help Hamas in its fight against Israel.
Intelligence sources have reported that the IDF deployed Patriot missile defense batteries around Haifa in case Hezbollah unleashes a rocket offensive on the North as in 2006 war.

3- Hezbollah with the backing of Iran and Syria has been trying to overthrow the Lebanese government and has been actively trying to block the election of a president . In doing so Hezbollah is threatening the existence of a Democratic, sovereign and Independent Lebanon

4- The quarrel between Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian president Bashar Assad over Lebanon, which is nearing boiling point and threatens to be fought out in Lebanon.

5- The boycott of the forthcoming Arab League summit in Damascus by the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf states , may prompt Syria to launch attacks against its neighbors in the region, for undermining its role in Lebanon and the Middle East

6- The Lebanese majority is concerned that Hezbollah-led opposition is trying to invite Syria back to occupy Lebanon.

When Imad Moustapha, the Syrian ambassador to the United States, spoke last Monday evening at Carnegie Mellon University about occupation of the Arab land by Israel a student asked him how he could criticize Israel for being an occupier when Syria has itself been an occupier of Lebanon.

Syria occupied Lebanon, said Moustapha, to end a civil war. “We made mistakes, we overstayed our welcome,” he said.

However, he said the occupation was ultimately good for Lebanon. “Lebanon was able to restore lives and rebuild,” he said.

This is the first time a Syrian official admits that the Syrian presence in Lebanon for nearly three decades was an ‘occupation’, besides only Syria and its allies think of the occupation as being good for Lebanon . The majority of the Lebanese think the occupation was the worst thing that ever happened to Lebanon