Saudi king`s talks with Hizbullah may indicate new bid to end crisis in Beirut

Source: Daily Star & AFP, 5-1-2007
BEIRUT: Saudi Arabia and Hizbullah both confirmed on Thursday that a meeting took place between a delegation from the resistance party and Saudi King Abdullah in December.
In a statement, Saudi Ambassador Abdel Aziz Khoja confirmed Wednesday`s media reports of a meeting between King Abdullah and a delegation of Hizbullah officials that took place in Jeddah on Dec.26, the Sunni-ruled kingdom`s first such contact with the Shiite party.
A statement released by Hizbullah on Thursday also confirmed the meeting, reiterating that Hizbullah`s deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Qassem, and resigned Energy and Water Minister Mohammad Fneish met with top Saudi officials, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
"It was a good meeting, and Saudi Arabia is an open field where all the Lebanese sides can meet, and so it is not surprising that this meeting happened," Khoja told reporters after visits to both Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri.
"Saudi Arabia supports whatever the Lebanese decide," the ambassador added.
The meeting has raised speculation that an unpublicized Saudi initiative may be under way to break the current political deadlock and allow a deal that addresses both the opposition`s desire for a Cabinet of national unity and the government`s determination to see the creation of an international court to try the assassins of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
According to Hizbullah`s statement, the delegation "discussed the Lebanese situation and the opposition`s demands, including the effects of the recent summer war with "Israel"."
"The delegation stressed the importance of national unity and the participation of all sides, and the importance of not letting the situation deteriorate into a Sunni-Shiite, Muslim-Christian clash," it said.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa`s mediation mission, heavily backed by Saudi Arabia, is now being joined with a Turkish initiative aimed at defusing the political crisis. During a one-day visit to Lebanon Wednesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the Lebanese to return to dialogue and warned that sectarian disputes in this country could affect the whole region.
Siniora met with the son of the slain Hariri, MP Saad Hariri, late Wednesday, after which Erdogan said that during his recent visits to Damascus and Tehran, both governments indicated support for the tribunal, but with specific jurisdictions.
Internally, however, Thursday`s political atmosphere seemed no more reassuring than the past month`s stalemate.
The government and the opposition engaged in a battle of expectations on Thursday, each warning that the other would be to blame if the reform plan proposed for the Paris III donor conference is not implemented.
Speaking during an interview with AFP late Wednesday, Siniora said it will be the opposition forces` fault if the reforms fail to take place.
Siniora was speaking a few hours before the Cabinet met to approve a reform package to prepare for the Paris gathering, at which Lebanon hopes to obtain billions of dollars in grants and soft loans to help pare down its massive debt.
"No one will help us if we do not help ourselves," Siniora said in the interview, alluding to continuing deadlock between the ruling coalition and opposition forces that has prevented the full implementation of reforms, some of which were promised as long as five years ago.
"After [Paris III] we are going to come home and tell the Lebanese `this is what we got.` If the opposition does not want it, so be it. If the opposition wants to scuttle [the reforms], they will bear the responsibility," said Siniora.
However, Hizbullah MP Amin Cherri told The Daily Star that "since Siniora regards himself as the authority, with that authority comes responsibility, and therefore he is responsible, and not us if his reform plans don`t work."
"They are taking decisions without us and then blame us when the decisions don`t work out," said Cherri.
The opposition has been holding an open-ended sit-in near Siniora`s office in Beirut since December 1 demanding its replacement by a government of national unity.