Press round-up for Thursday, July 29th from the morning edition of Lebanon’s
An-Nahar,
Al-Akhbar,
As-Safir, and
Ad-Diyar newspapers.
Note: There is no press round-up on Sundays
A flurry of preparations and invitations; the Qatari emir is to spend three days in Lebanon.
King Abdullah and Assad visit Baabda tomorrow.
An extraordinary Arab presence to contain the crisis.
Mubarak and King Abdullah discuss the Lebanese situation and exchange points of view on US pressures.
Damascus looks forward to the “institutionalization” of relations between Lebanon and Syria.
It has become almost certain that the Baabda Presidential Palace will host tomorrow an unprecedented summit meeting between the Lebanese, Saudi and Syrian leaders.
A closed meeting is scheduled, in principle, between President Michel Sleiman, Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad followed by lunch. Meetings will be held then with several official and political figures, and are likely to include the key participants in the national dialogue committee.
Political circles are wondering about the possibility of witnessing another major surprise in this respect with the potential participation of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah himself, even though it looks like a long shot.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani will arrive in Beirut around 6 p.m. tomorrow, i.e. as the visit of King Abdullah and President Assad draws to an end. Barring any surprises, a special program was put in place to welcome the Qatari emir.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who presided the Council of Ministers’ session, said that “the visits of the leaders of brotherly Arab states are an expression of Arab support for Lebanon.” Hariri went on to say that “we have to cooperate in the country’s interest.”
According to sources, ongoing contacts are being made between PM Hariri and Hajj Hussein Khalil, political adviser to Hezbollah’s secretary general, following their meeting at Hariri’s downtown Beirut residence two days ago.
Saudi Information and Culture Minister Abdel Aziz Khoja stressed the importance of the Saudi king’s Arab tour, saying that the talks held by King Abdullah will tackle the latest developments on the Lebanese stage and all key issues in the region.
King Abdullah held a summit meeting in Sharm al-Sheikh with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak [on Wednesday]. Egyptian presidential spokesperson Sleiman Awwad said that the peace process and the situation in Lebanon are the top priorities on the agenda of the Mubarak-Abdullah meeting.
Syrian sources concerned with the issue of Lebanese-Syrian relations told An-Nahar that Assad’s much-evoked visit to Lebanon “is an important event and a clear indicator of the brotherly behavior adopted by Damascus towards all of Lebanon.”
Sharm al-Sheikh: Assimilating Syria and Hezbollah.
Abdullah brings to Syria… a plan to silence it.
It has become almost certain that Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz will not visit Beirut alone and that he will bring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad along with him. A [Syrian] governmental official told AFP: “He [President Assad] informed us that he will be travelling with King Abdullah.”
It is even more certain that the joint visit by the two leaders, who may also be joined by the Qatari emir, hinges in the first place on the results of the talks held by King Abdullah with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, then with the Syrian president today.
Sources told Al-Akhbar that the summit meeting between Abdullah and Mubarak focused on “a plan to silence Syria” so that it does not act as an obstacle to the resumption of direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis, knowing that such a resumption is a US request.
According to sources, the main question asked during the Abdullah-Mubarak meeting was about “how to silence Syria on the eve of the indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).” Riyadh volunteered to act as a guide “to reassure Syria” in order to defuse the crisis.
According to the same sources, Saudi Arabia is acting under the slogan of the Taif Accord and of “normalizing” relations between Syria and Lebanon. Saudi Arabia has thus moved from being a party to the Lebanese issue, to the role of sponsoring “the Taif return.”
The sources emphasized that Egypt and Jordan have reservations about reassuring Syria due to the strategic alliance between Damascus and Tehran.
According to the sources, Egypt will set as a demand or condition requested from Syria the need to “assimilate Hezbollah” on the Arab level as some guarantee of protection for Lebanese parties with close ties to Egypt one way or another.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea met yesterday Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Ahmad Fouad al-Bidawi and US Ambassador Michele Sison with whom he discussed the “issue pertaining to the STL.”
Shaaban to As-Safir: President Assad’s participation is to be settled in light of King Abdullah’s visit.
The Beirut summit tomorrow: A new Syrian-Saudi test.
Hariri’s staff keeps the indictment aside; Sison interferes in support of the STL.
Syrian presidential political advisor Buthaina Shaaban told As-Safir that she expects today will reveal for certain whether or not President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz will visit Beirut together, pending the results of King Abdullah’s visit to Damascus today.
The relevant offices in the Lebanese presidency have reportedly drafted several protocol-related scenarios for tomorrow’s meetings in order to be prepared for all possibilities.
Informed sources advised not to pin too much hope on the expected tripartite summit to end the urgent crisis. According to the sources, the available information does not seem to indicate that the summit will find a genuine solution to the crisis.
A ministerial source told As-Safir that the discussions to be held during the summit meeting will address the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), regional developments and the peace process - as the deadline set by the Arab League for the resumption of [direct peace] negotiations [between the Palestinians and the Israelis] is about to expire.
Sources have leaked news about a negative and uncooperative Egyptian response with regard to containing the issue of the STL and the upcoming indictment. This may have a negative effect on the Syrian-Saudi momentum.
Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Ghadanfar Roken Abadi told several media figures that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon, which - according to predictions – was due to be held before Ramadan, has been postponed until after the Eid al-Fitr.
Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s staff told As-Safir that the Saudi king’s visit to Lebanon focuses essentially on two issues: the Palestinian issue and the conflict pitting Iran against the UN Security Council and the international community.
The solution is to be “cooked” in Damascus between the Saudi king and President Assad.
Friday signals the détente in Beirut and the crisis ends with the presidential summit.
Ad-Diyar has learned that an ongoing Arab bid aims to delay the promulgation of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) indictment for an extended period of up to a year, whereas all main Lebanese parties would commit to rejecting any indictment incriminating Hezbollah [in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination].
A parliamentary source told Ad-Diyar that the solution to the Lebanese domestic crisis has yet to be clearly worded, at least on the local level. However, the tripartite summit is likely to give a clear indication as to what lies in store in this respect.
The meeting held between PM Saad Hariri and Hajj Hussein Khalil, political advisor to Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, was extremely honest, even though additional contacts remain necessary.
Opposition sources said Hariri will meet several opposition leaders in the coming days to discuss the latest domestic developments.