Mussa Beirut Visit Bumps Into Saudi - Syrian Tension

Source: Al-Manar TV, 6-2-2008
Arab League chief Amr Mussa returns to Lebanon this week with yet another obstacle, this time regional, threatening any bid to solve the political crisis in Lebanon. Political tension between Saudi Arabia and Syria heightened recently after Riyadh's announcement that it will "stand firmly behind the March 14 bloc against Syrian President Bashar Assad and his government and provide whatever is necessary to kick start the international tribunal into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri." This was the position of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz quoted by the head of the Democratic Gathering chief MP Walid Jumblatt, who had a tour of Saudi officials in the kingdom recently.
Moussa said he will seek upon his return to Beirut on Friday to bring together pro- and anti-government representatives for a meeting at Parliament. However, Jumblatt and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea have been going around Mussa's bid and escalating their positions to kill the Arab effort and then blame it on the opposition and of course Syria.
The opposition said that if Mussa's return to Lebanon will not bring changes to the Arab initiative, then the visit will not be necessary.
Well informed sources in Beirut told the Saudi Daily "Okaz" that Mussa will return with a new approach pertaining to the distribution of ministers in a new formed government based on the proposal of the head of the Reform and Change bloc MP Michel Aoun. During the quartet meeting joining him with Speaker Nabih Berri, MP Saad Hariri and Mussa, Aoun proposed that the ratio of ministerial representation in a new government be proportional to the ratio of representations in parliament, excluding the President of the Republic's share of ministers.
The Arab initiative is based on a three-point plan calling for the election of army chief General Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and adoption of a new electoral law. However the opposition is insisting that it gets a one-third minority in any new government, something the ruling bloc firmly rejects.
In his most recent analyses and bellicose speeches, Geagea accused the opposition on top of which is Hizbullah of seeking to "terminate" Gen. Suleiman's nomination for president and "paralyze the army to facilitate the return of the Syrian army to Lebanon." "They fully realize that they cannot assume power peacefully through democratic means that is why they have opted for force," Geagea told a press conference Tuesday. He renewed his accusation to the opposition of "closing the doors of Parliament after failing to fulfill anything from assassinating MPs."
Jumblatt was keen to tell his visitors about "what he had heard from the Saudis about their lack of trust in the Syrian regime." He also said that Riyadh will provide the unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora with money to cope with the "burdens of the coming stage." Jumblatt also told his visitors that he does not see any solution looming in the near future adding that he discussed with his allies in the February 14 bloc the necessity to be prepared for a possible confrontation with the opposition. He reiterated his accusation to the opposition of knowing about assassinations "which will not stop as long as we are in confrontation with Hizbullah and Syria."