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Lebanese politicians pour cold water on hopes that Beirut crisis will end soon March 7, 2007 Politicians and diplomats in Lebanon denied any deal had been reached to resolve the prevailing political crisis here on Tuesday, one day after reports flooded Lebanon that a three-month-old political deadlock would be resolved by the end of the week. Speaking to the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday, Amal MP Ali Bazzi said there was "neither cause for optimism nor pessimism." Bazzi said "certain indications" showed that the shape of a national unity government had been agreed, adding that the opposition had consistently called for a 19+11 formula and rejected the idea of a "neutral minister" as unconstitutional. But in separate comments to LBC, Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan denied that the ruling majority had agreed to the 19+11 formula, but said that the current atmosphere was conducive to a solution. Adwan said the 19+11 formula would mean a return to Syrian tutelage and vowed that pro-government forces will continue to oppose the idea. The 19+11 would entail transforming the current 24-minister Cabinet into a 30-minister Cabinet comprised of 19 loyalist ministers and 11 from the opposition, which would grant the latter veto power in the government. Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah also said Tuesday that no agreement had been reached, but added that efforts were being made to reach a solution ahead of an Arab summit to be held in Riyadh this month. But in perhaps the largest sign that reports of a breakthrough in the impasse were immature, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Saud al-Faisal told a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh on Monday that the "Lebanese must put an end [to the crisis] and decide for themselves to put national interests above all." The foreign ministers of the GCC later released a statement urging all Lebanese political groups to return to dialogue. Saudi Ambassador Abdel-Aziz Khoja left Beirut early Tuesday for Riyadh, one day after holding a series of meetings with officials from both sides of the political divide. In a separate development, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Tuesday that Syria "was never concerned" with the legal aspect of an international tribunal to try those accused of the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, "as this concerns the Lebanese." Moallem's comments came during a joint news conference with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, who had met earlier with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Moallem added that any Syrian national found to have participated in the Hariri assassination would be tried in accordance with Syrian law. In Beirut, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told visitors to the Grand Serail on Tuesday of "serious endeavors" to rescue Lebanon from the current crisis, but added that there were no "clear initiatives" as yet. Siniora also met Tuesday with Feltman to discuss regional and local developments. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
