EU calls on local leaders to resolve crisis

by **Admin** Sun Apr 13, 2008 6:48 am

The
EU should act urgently to help bring about a peaceful resolution to
Lebanon's ongoing political crisis, members of the European Parliament
(MEPs) said on Thursday.

But
the MEPs reached no agreement on how the EU could best intervene in a
region where the interests of Syria, Iran, Israel and the US all play a
part.

"Violence
could break out at any moment ... with unforeseeable consequences for
the country and its people," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn
warned MEPs.

The
commission's key priority in the near future will be to support Arab
League efforts to resolve the crisis, since this "represents the only
option to find a solution," Rehn said.

MEPs
highlighted the key role played by Syria in the Lebanese crisis.
"Lebanon cannot be governed from Damascus, but it cannot be governed
against Damascus either," conservative MEP Jose Ignacio Salafranca
said.

"We
have to bear Damascus and other capitals in mind, but we have to focus
on the confrontation between new forces in Lebanon, expressed by the
systematic assassination of adversaries," liberal MEP Marco Pannella
said.

Several
MEPs also mentioned to the pivotal role played by Hizbullah, with
Polish right-wing MEP Konrad Szymanski urging the EU to add the group
to its blacklist of terror organizations.

But
most stressed the fact that the only viable way out of the impasse
would be for Lebanon's politicians to find their own compromise, with
the EU playing a supporting role.