Ban Worried About Dangerous Situation, Geagea Says No to Participation in Arab Summit

by **Admin** Tue Mar 18, 2008 2:26 pm

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the continued Lebanese presidential vacuum, describing the situation in Lebanon as "extremely dangerous."

I am "worried about the presidential vacuum. This situation is extremely dangerous," An Nahar daily on Tuesday quoted Ban as saying ahead of his talks with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea in New York.

He said on Monday that the international community was helping the Lebanese government to find a way out of the "dangerous" political crisis.

Ban said he told Premier Fouad Saniora on the sidelines of the Organization of the Islamic Conference summit in Dakar that a new president must be elected to end the vacuum.

About his meeting with Geagea, Ban told An Nahar that he has met the LF leader twice in Beirut and that the U.N. chief was holding talks with leaders of all parties to facilitate dialogue among Lebanon's politicians.

Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Ban, Geagea said: "I explained to him that the Arab summit in Damascus cannot be a source of hope, neither for Lebanon nor for the Middle East as a whole."

He reiterated that he was against Lebanon taking part in the March 29-30 summit, citing what he called the Assad regime's "negative role" in the region.

"We cannot accept that Lebanon goes to this summit given the role that Syria is playing in Lebanon," he added.
Sources close to the delegation accompanying Geagea told An Nahar that the LF leader presented a document to Ban that includes four issues: the Shabaa farms area, Lebanese prisoners in Israeli and Syrian jails, the demarcation of the border with Syria and presidential elections.

The sources quoted Ban as saying he was "shocked" about the ongoing delay in holding presidential elections.
They said Ban also stressed there was no turning back on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and that any delay to start trials could result from only logistics and technical problems.

Ban reiterated the U.N.'s willingness to help Lebanon, protect the south and deal with the issue of the Lebanese-Syrian border, the sources said.