Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Syria, which has played a key role in Lebanese politics for three decades and still doesn't have an embassy in Beirut, has yet to extend an invitation to Lebanon to attend an Arab summit in Damascus next month.
``The issue is premature,'' Mohammad Shateh, the adviser of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, said in an interview from London today when asked if Lebanon would attend the Arab Summit in Damascus next month.
``We have not yet received an invitation and the issue of attendance and who attends of course is still not even being addressed,'' he said.
Lebanon hasn't had a president since Nov. 23, when Syrian- backed Emile Lahoud left office at the end of his term. The pro- Western governing coalition under Siniora and the Syrian-backed opposition of Shiite movement Hezbollah and Christian politician Michel Aoun agree on Michel Suleiman, the army commander-in- chief, as the next president. They are divided, though, on how to change the constitution to permit a senior public servant to take the post.
They also disagree on the make-up of the next cabinet and who should lead the next government. Lawmakers have failed to elect a president on 14 occasions. They are due to meet for a 15th attempt on Feb. 26. The dispute has generated the worst crisis since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war and threatened to provoke new violence in a nation still recovering from the sectarian civil war that ended in 1990.
No Value in Summit
``There is no value in an Arab summit without a president,'' said Saad al-Hariri, the son of the late former premier Rafiq Hariri and leader of the Future bloc, that is part of the ruling coalition, said last week, referring to the scheduled Arab League summit in Damascus. Hariri accuses Syria of being implicated in the killing of his father.
United Nations investigators have said Lebanese and Syrian intelligence officials, including the brother and brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, were implicated in the truck bombing that killed the former Lebanese prime minister in Feb. 2005. Syria has denied any involvement in the attack.
Public outrage over Hariri's murder forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon, ending a 29-year presence, and led to an anti-Syrian political bloc gaining a majority in Lebanon's parliament after elections in June 2005.
``There is talk about the level of attendance'' of some Arab states ``and what kind of summit it will be, based on progress in Lebanon or lack of it toward the election of a president,'' Shateh said. ``I can't say that we are informed or that we are aware of a decision by Arab countries to attend or at what level.''
Egypt, Saudi Arabia
Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the major power brokers in the Middle East, haven't confirmed who will represent them at the summit.
``We have no information on this but according to the secretary general the summit will take place with the participation of all heads of state,'' Abdel Alim El-Abyad, spokesman for Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said in an interview from Egypt today. ``He also said that if the Lebanese crisis is solved it will help the summit be successful.''
Lebanon sent two separate delegations to the Arab Summit in Riyadh last year, one headed by former president Lahoud and the other by Prime Minister Siniora.
By Massoud A. Derhally
1 comment:
the summıt ıs already faıled and the syrıa medıa have started already to fınd somone to blame for thıs lose
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