Moussa to Return After March 30, Stresses Lebanon Should Be Represented at Summit

by **Admin** Thu Mar 20, 2008 9:50 am

Secretary General Amr Moussa is expected to reactivate the Arab initiative with a new mandate after the Arab summit scheduled in Damascus on March 29-30.

"Hope" to find a way out of Lebanon's crisis "depends on some activities that we'll carry out in the near future whether during the summit or in its aftermath when Lebanon returns to its normal situation," the Arab League chief said in Cairo Wednesday after talks with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.

"The Arab League summit will discuss the situation in Lebanon…We will then take it (the initiative) to the swift implementation stage…by electing a president," Moussa said.

He hinted that he will return to Beirut "soon" after the summit.

Lebanon's participation in the summit is "necessary," Moussa said, adding that the country was a founding member of the Arab League and it is in a deadlocked situation which requires discussion during the summit.

The Lebanese cabinet has yet to decide whether to take part in the Damascus conference or boycott it. Several Arab countries have also linked the level of their participation to the election of a president in Beirut.

The Lebanese parliament is scheduled to meet on March 25 to elect a new head of state after 16 previous attempts have failed.

"We are working hard through our contacts with (Parliament Speaker Nabih) Berri, (Premier Fouad) Saniora, the majority and the opposition to make progress," Moussa said.

He also warned that obstructing the presidential election process and the implementation of the Arab League initiative is not in Lebanon's interest.

Qabbani, in his turn, urged Moussa to intensify efforts before the Damascus summit in resolving Lebanon's presidential crisis and said the "Arab League was the solution and the hope" in finding a way out of the crisis.
He urged Arab leaders "for more support to Lebanon so that it be represented by a president at the summit."

Qabbani also met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit who expressed hope that the Arab summit would help resolve the crisis in Lebanon.