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

Washington Dismisses Hizbullah Criticism for USS Cole Deployment

United States on Friday shrugged off Hizbullah’s criticisms of the deployment of a U.S. warship to waters off Lebanon and insisted the show of force meant to promote stability.
“On Hizbullah’s concerns, I would express some of our own concerns with Hezbollah’s actions. So I’ll just leave it at that,” White House national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters.

Johndroe sidestepped questions about comments from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, who said Friday that his government did not ask Washington to send the USS Cole guided-missile destroyer to the area.

“We have regular consultations with Prime Minister Saniora and his government, as well as our allies, both in the immediate region, as well as in Europe on the situation in Lebanon,” said the spokesman.

“There’s constant communication at various levels. But let’s be clear: The purpose of the U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean is a show of support for regional stability,” amid Lebanon’s political crisis, he emphasized.

“I know we share with Prime Minister Saniora a desire for the situation in Lebanon to be resolved, and resolved by the Lebanese people,” said Johndroe.

“We did not ask anyone to send warships,” Saniora said in a speech during a meeting with Arab ambassadors that was broadcast live on television, adding that no U.S. warship was in “Lebanese waters.”

Before Friday’s speech Saniora also summoned the U.S. charge d’affaires to ask her for “clarifications” about the dispatch of the USS Cole, a government source told AFP.

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.(AFP)

France: USS cole depicts escalation of US pressure to Syria

Beirut / Paris – France disclosed today that it was informed of US decision to send US warship USS Cole off the coast of Lebanon and that the French government neither supported the US action nor objected against it

Pascale Andreanim a spokeswoman of the French Foreign Ministry told reporters “We were notified that the decision of the United States to send the warship ( pictured) off the coast of Lebanon, was an initiative by the US administration to express of support for regional stability”… and this is important, she added.

She went on to say: Our position is very clear about supporting political stability in Lebanon and this support never stopped . In line with our support for Lebanon stability we have welcomed and supported the Arab initiative to find a political solution to the current crisis and we will continue to support the efforts of the Arab league and its Secretary-General “Amr Moussa in implementing the Arab plan to solve the crisis of Lebanon.”

The spokeswoman described the US action as a show of force and as an escalation of pressure on Syria to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Lebanon and the region.

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 . Syria’s influence over its allies was blamed for the Hezbollah actions.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt have been trying to get Syria to cooperate in Lebanon and support the Arab initiative , but Syria which does not recognize Lebanon as an independent sate and still considers it part of Syria has refused to cooperate.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner visted Lebanon sever times last year to try to end the Lebanese crises , but gave up in the end and blamed Syria and its allies for blocking his effort

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